Falling Stars
by Trinity005
Summary: In 1992, an upcoming actress was stabbed to death. The case was never solved, but it’s now reopened after the murder weapon is recovered. Post 2x22 Best Friends.
1. The Case

"**Falling Stars"**

**Author's note:** This case file is based on a real murder that happened here in Brazil in 1992. I'll be sticking to real facts and dates as much as I can, but some people and facts will be added for entertainment purposes. After the fic is finished I'll have an extra chapter about the real case (which never went cold). Most important, this is a pre-The Woods fic. I chose to go this way because the events of that episode are too big, and I want to deal with other personal stuff here (expect more than one personal storyline in this fic). Now, enough with the babbling. Enjoy, and please, review.

**Thanks:** to my beta-reader, Joutsensydn.

XXXXX

**Chapter 1 – The Case**

Philadelphia, December 28th, 1992

A young woman is leaving a theater. She walks down the street to her car. She gets in and drives for about two blocks. She's about to go into a gas station when she realizes it's closed and starts to back away, but a red car is blocking her. She honks, but the car remains in place.

Next thing, she's being violently taken out of her car and thrown into the one that was blocking her. The car drives away.

In aforest we hear several screams as she's repeatedly stabbed in the chest. Her cry for mercy is sharp and helpless.

The car that brought her there drives away. The night is already dark and a second car is driving by, almost unnoticeable.

The woman's body is lying in the forest, covered in blood. Her lifeless eyes remain open, like still begging for a chance.

Later, in a basement at Police Headquarters, a box is labeled and filed:

Hannigan, J. Dec. 28th, 1992.

XXXXX

Philadelphia, July 2005

It's early afternoon and detectives Lilly Rush, Scotty Valens, Nick Vera and Will Jeffries are sitting at a small restaurant near the Philadelphia Police Headquarters. Their burgers and fries are already on the table, but they haven't been touched. The detectives are waiting for their boss, Lieutenant John Stillman, who's talking on his cell phone outside the restaurant. They watch him through the window.

"You think the boss is gonna take too long?" Scotty asks, looking back from Stillman to his lunch.

Lilly laughs. "You can't hold yourself together for a couple of more minutes, Scotty?"

"It's already past 2 pm," Scotty says, like it's the obvious explanation. "And our burgers are getting cold."

"You can relax, Scotty," Nick says, smirking. "Boss is coming."

Stillman walks to the table and sits down with them. "Sorry about that." He picks up the burger, being immediately followed by Scotty. Lilly, Will and Nick shake their heads, smiling, and then pick up their burgers as well. "The call was from the CSU unit," Stillman starts, the detectives paying close attention. "Yesterday they got an anonymous call about drugs being buried in a forest up North." He picks up a couple of fries, and goes on. "They went to check it out. The police dogs didn't smell any drugs, but they did pick up some bloody and rusty scissors."

"And it matched a cold job," Lilly states.

Stillman nods and goes on. "A big one. Jill Hannigan, 1992."

Their reaction shows the name is familiar to them all. "The actress?" Vera voices their surprise.

Stillman nods. "You four better get ready for some newspaper and TV interviews."

"Was the murder weapon recovered from the same place where she was found?" Lilly asks.

"Yes." Stillman answers. "The CSU people believe it was buried deep back in 1992 but time and rain brought it slowly back to the surface."

"We didn't get lucky enough to find any prints on those scissors, did we?" Scotty asks, but his face shows he knows it's a long shot.

"Apparently nothing came up on the first tests," Stillman says. "But CSU is running more detailed tests to see if they can pick up any leads."

Scotty nods as he chews on the last bite of his burger, while Lilly, having already finished her much smaller burger, looks at him impatiently. "What?" he asks, his mouth half-full.

"Are you planning on finishing this anytime today?" she asks back. "We do have an investigation to work on."

"I haven't finished my soda yet," Scotty protests.

"Well, take it with you," she says, starting to get up.

Scotty gets up and glares at Stillman. "Next time, please wait until we've finished lunch, Boss."

Stillman, Nick and Will laugh. "I have a court appointment in 20 minutes, so I'm staying," Stillman says. "You go and get started, you can brief me about it when I get back." The four detectives nod and leave the restaurant.

XXXXX

At Police Headquarters, having retrieved the case file from the storage room, the detectives are now going through the old statements and reports.

"There's nothing useful here," Vera begins. "The original investigation found nothing. All possible suspects had good alibis."

Lilly leans forward from her desk. "Maybe someone lied. Or they never interviewed the right person."

"I don't mean to kill the excitement here," Scotty says, "but maybe it was just a random crime. In her statement, Jill's mother said Jill had the habit of going out alone late at night."

"Not a very wise habit, even 13 years ago," Nick adds.

"No." Will shakes his head. "You're overlooking the fact that this girl was killed with 18 scissors stabs to her chest. It's personal."

Lilly decides to cut the speculation short before they lose focus. "Let's see what we know for sure." She picks up a piece of paper and picture from her desk. The picture shows a young and very beautiful woman, clearly in her early 20s, with pale skin, long, curly dark hair and big black eyes. Lilly passes the picture around and starts reading. "Jill Hannigan, 22 years old. Upcoming actress, starring in a successful play written by her mother. She didn't have any known enemies or money problems, but..." she pauses for a while. "2 years before her murder, she checked into a rehabilitation clinic for substance abusers."

"Now, this is interesting." Scotty says, sitting up in his chair. "Was she ever arrested?"

"There's nothing here about that," Lilly says. "Probably not."

"I'll check into it anyway," Nick says.

"She was married, wasn't she?" Will asks.

Lilly nods. "Yes. She had been married for a year to actor Peter Campbell."

"The guy from the chicken soup commercial," Nick points out. "Talk about an all-star case."

"Well, shall we get started or should we wait for the boss?" Scotty asks.

"It's still early in the afternoon. I think we can pay our first visits today." Lilly says, glancing at her watch. "We could visit Jill's mom, and Nick and Will could go see the husband." The other detectives nod in agreement.

"Boss will probably be out of the courtroom soon. Let's walk there and tell him about our plans," Will suggests. The other detectives pick up their coats and leave.

XXXXX

Outside the courthouse, the four detectives are talking about the case as they wait for Stillman. They're so immersed in their discussion that none of them notices Stillman walking towards them, along with ADA Kite and another man.

"Hello." It's Kite who brings the detectives' attention to their presence. "How are you all doing?"

"Hey. We're fine, thanks." Scotty is the one who answers. "How was court?"

"Oh, easy. It was a solid case, with a solid investigation." Kite answers, smiling discreetly every time he glances at Lilly. He then realizes the other man hasn't been introduced. "Sorry. This is DA Kenneth Brown. He's just been transferred from Pittsburgh."

"Nice to meet you all," says Brown, who's a tall, blond man, apparently in his late forties, clearly a very charismatic figure. He shakes hands with all the detectives.

"Welcome," Lilly says. "And good luck here in Philly."

"Thanks," Brown says, displaying a detergent-commercial smile. "I'm actually a Philly native, so this is a great opportunity for me."

"DA Brown has some special plans for the DA's office." Stillman says, not looking pleased.

"My plan is to restructure the work routine between the Police Department and DA's office, actually." Brown says. At the detectives' lack of reaction and slightly open mouths, he goes on, "I want more integration between us. To avoid any slip-ups once we reach the courtroom phase." The detectives just nod, smiling faintly. Neither of them is eager to see the DA's office interfering with their job.

Stillman is the one to wake them up from their day-nightmare. "You guys came down here because..."

"Oh," Lilly begins. "We wanted to fill you in on our investigation plans for this afternoon."

"I see. Excuse us," Stillman says to Kite and Brown, walking away with Lilly.

"Sorry, Lil," he says, once they're out of earshot. "I can't stay and talk about the case right now. Brown has just invited me out to lunch. He wants to discuss his ideas." He sighs. "Just do what you gotta do, and we'll talk about it later."

"OK, Boss." Lilly nods. "Should we expect trouble around the corner?"

"Maybe, I don't know yet." He answers seriously. "But we have to be careful. Brown has friends in high places, and he can get us in real trouble if he wants to. That's why I'm having two lunches today."

They walk back to the group. "We're going now," Lilly announces, addressing everyone. "We're starting a new investigation today."

"Oh, too bad. I was thinking of inviting you to join us for lunch. But good luck to you," Brown says, smiling as always.

"We can do it some other time, right, guys?" Kite asks.

"Sure," Lilly answers, remembering what Stillman had just said.

"We should get going, then," Scotty says, a bit puzzled by Lilly's rapid acceptance of the invitation. He had never taken her for a political person.

"See ya, Rush." Kite waves to Lilly before fading out of sight. Lilly rolls her eyes as they start heading back to Police Headquarters for their cars. She avoids looking at Scotty, Nick and Will on the way, because she knows they're not successful at hiding their know-it-all smirks.

XXXXX

**To be continued**


	2. The Mother

"**Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 2 – The Mother**

Lilly and Scotty reach the parking lot at Police Headquarter and claim their car in silence. They're both still digesting the meeting they just had with the new DA. A new DA had been expected for a couple of months. The last one, DA Dean Cassidy, had just retired after 15 years on the job, thus leaving big expectations about his replacement. This new guy might be too enthusiastic for their comfort. Not that the Police didn't enjoy change and new ideas, but the DA's office loved sticking their nose into their work, and the past had showed dangerous sparks can ignite from these situations.

"So, what do you make of this new DA?" Scotty asks, as they start driving away.

Lilly shrugs. "He's new, so he's full of new ideas. He'll get disillusioned soon," she says, looking out the window.

"Don't you think he'll bring us problems?" Scotty insists, not buying Lilly being so cool about the possibility of someone intruding.

"He might send his pupil to pry into our work, but it probably won't last," Lilly answers, figuring it better to keep Stillman's concerns to herself for now. She turns her gaze back to Scotty. "Don't worry, Scotty."

"Oh, I'm not worried." Scotty says. "At least not about myself, I don't have a history with the DA's office," He adds, with a smirk.

"So, that's what this is all about." Lilly rolls her eyes. "You know, I can keep my business life and my personal life apart."

"Really?" Scotty half-asks, gazing at Lilly as he drives, and she can't tell whether he's being ironic or not.

"Let's focus on the case, OK?" Lilly says, hoping to drop the subject.

"We're almost there," Scotty says, realizing he's crossed the line of their new found peace. He wasn't going to insist, but he wasn't about to spare her, either. "Here it is. Arden Theatre."

"Alice's rehearsing her new play here," Lilly comments as they exit the car.

"Yeah, the new play is all over the Philly newspapers," Scotty says, watching the huge and imponent building. "Well, it's great she kept working, her work is excellent."

Lilly looks at Scotty incredulously. "Scotty, I never took you for a theatre expert," she mocks.

Scotty smiles, opening the front door for her. "Well, I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I'm certainly deeper than I give away."

**XXXXX**

Lilly and Scotty reach the stage. There's a rehearsal going on. Three actors – two female and one male – work their way through a scene that talks about love and betrayal. Down in the seats, there's a man and a woman walking from one side to the other, firing heated instructions to the actors.

"That should be Alice Hannigan," Lilly says, pointing to a woman in her mid-sixties, whose face resembled Jill's, only with lighter hair and a much more tired and sad expression.

"Alice Hannigan?" Lilly asks, approaching the woman, who's now in deep discussion with the man.

"Yes." Alice greets them, "You must be the detectives who called earlier."

Lilly nods. "Rush and Valens," she says as she and Scotty flip their badges.

"Excuse me, Charlie," Alice says to the man she'd been talking to; a tall, elegant man, slightly older than Alice, with dark green eyes and dirty blond hair.

"Is this about Jill again?" Charlie asks Alice. He lowers his voice but Lilly and Scotty can still hear him clearly. "We're in the middle of a rehearsal." The actors have finished their scene and patiently await new instructions.

"Detectives, this is Charlie Vaughn, my director," Alice says, ignoring this remark. "Charlie, these are Detectives Rush and Valens." Charlie gives them a hint of a smile. Lilly and Scotty just nod in a way of greeting.

"Now, I'm going to talk to them about Jill. You'll be fine without me, Charlie," Alice replies. From their tone of voice and expressions you can tell those two have known each other long enough to go straight to the point, without fear of stepping on each other's toes. "You're always complaining about how the writer shouldn't be butting into direction, aren't you?" she finishes, half-kiddingly. Then, turning her gaze to Lilly and Scotty, "Please, let's go somewhere private," she says, leading them away.

**XXXXX**

Alice takes them into an office, where they sit on a couch, Alice facing Lilly and Scotty. Lilly begins, "As we talked, Ms. Hannigan, the murder weapon's been recovered, so we're reopening the investigation."

Alice smiles. "People always felt sorry for me, but I knew there was hope for justice."

Lilly smiles back and asks, "Ms. Hannigan, what can you tell us about Jill's last days?"

Alice's eyes shine with sadness and pride at the same time. "The play was doing incredibly well. Jill was finally getting her break. She was happier than ever."

"How was Jill's relationship with her husband?" Scotty asks.

"As far I knew, perfect," Alice answers. "I never saw those two fighting. And Jill would tell everyone how happy and fulfilled she felt."

"And you, Ms. Hannigan?" Lilly asks, paying attention to Alice's every reaction. "What was your opinion of Peter?"

Alice seems somehow offended. "I think Peter is a great man. He could have never hurt my daughter, if that's what you're getting at," she answers, a bit angrily.

"We're not pointing fingers at anyone, Ms. Hannigan," Lilly replies sharply. "But we're not sparing anyone either." Alice doesn't say anything.

"With all this success, it's possible Jill pissed off some people," Scotty says, thinking it's better to take this cue and send the conversation some other direction. "Is there anyone who could have had something against Jill?"

Alice thinks for a moment. "Well, there were lots of girls who were jealous of her working on the same play. But murder... I don't think so," she explains, the shine in her eyes completely gone by now.

"Of all those jealous girls, which ones were closer to Jill?" Scotty insists, feeling there's something else in this.

Alice sits back on the couch. "I'm not sure this is of any relevance..."

"Anything can be relevant, Ms. Hannigan," Lilly states.

"Paris McDonald," Alice answers, without even thinking. "She had a supporting role in the play."

"What happened between her and Jill?" Scotty asks. He and Lilly are fully concentrated, knowing they've reached a great spot.

"Like I said, I don't know if this is relevant," Alice repeats. She sighs, and goes on, "A couple of weeks before Jill's murder, I overheard a conversation between them."

**Flashback to 1992**

Alice is walking down a corridor backstage. As she goes by one of the dressing rooms, she hears loud voices. Recognizing one of them as Jill's, she stops to listen at the half-open door.

Inside the dressing room, two girls are talking. One of them is Jill – long and loosely curled brown hair, dark eyes, medium height and an angelic face. The other, a taller and sexier blue-eyed blonde with long straight hair down to her waist.

"Knock it off, will you, Paris? I know you don't have anything against me," Jill says calmly, combing her hair.

"Oh, yeah," Paris says, sitting on a chair next to Jill. She goes on, in an ironic tone of voice, "Saint Jill can do no wrong."

"I'm no saint," Jill retorts seriously. "I've screwed up quite a bit, but there's nothing everyone hasn't already heard about."

"I'll give you some time, Jill," Paris replies, with a fake, plastic smile. "Think your life through."

"This isn't high school anymore, Paris." Jill raises her voice, getting up. "You're not the most popular, you're not the most successful, you can't have any guy you want." She pauses, and goes on in a lower voice. "Quit playing these games."

Outside the room Alice is listening closely, even if her face doesn't show too much concern. She's suddenly caught by another young woman, apparently the same age as Jill and Paris, standing in front of her.

"You need something, Ms. Hannigan?" a sweet voice asks. There's nothing sweet about the girl's looks, though – natural blonde hair filled with red locks framing a baby face that sported both a nose and an eyebrow piercing.

"No, thank you, Kelly," Alice answers, searching for an excuse for her presence there. "I was just… just remembering I left my glasses in my car." Kelly smiles, and Alice quickly adds, "Excuse me." Alice leaves, and Kelly enters the dressing room.

**Back to 2005**

"At the time, I figured Paris and Jill were just reliving their high school days," Alice explains. "I felt they never got over that period anyway."

"Was there a lot of rivalry between them in high school?" Lilly asks.

Alice laughs. "Oh, plenty. But just the usual things you see in every school. Popularity battles, fights over boys... nothing serious, as far as I know."

Scotty glances up from his notepad. "What about that girl that ran into you? Who was she?" he asks.

"Kelly Simpson," Alice answers. "Lovely girl. She went to high school with Jill, too. She was our make-up artist."

"Was she close to Jill?" Lilly asks.

"Oh, yeah. Inseparable," Alice answers. "If you want to find out anything about Jill, you should ask her," she adds, with a smile. "Actually, I'd like to know where she is, too. Haven't seen her in nearly ten years."

Lilly and Scotty glance at each other, knowing they won't get much more from that conversation. "Thank you, Ms. Hannigan," Lilly says, getting up. "Don't hesitate to call us if you remember anything else." They shake hands.

As Alice takes Scotty and Lilly back, they find Charlie still rehearsing with the actors. "Sorry about Charlie's behavior earlier. He's completely anti-social, but a great director, that's why I keep him around. And he gets upset by the memories of Jill's death," Alice says.

"He was director in the play Jill was doing, wasn't he?" Scotty asks.

"Oh, yes," Alice answers. "Besides that, Charlie and I have known each other for almost forty years. He saw Jill grow up."

"Well, we'd like to talk to him, too," Lilly says. Immediately after this, they hear Charlie yelling at one of the actors, and not using the most polite vocabulary available.

Alice smiles embarrassedly. "I don't think this is the best time, Detectives." She starts leading Scotty and Lilly outside. "But he'll talk to you. I'll make sure of that."

"OK. Thanks." Scotty says. "Have a nice day, Ms. Hannigan," he adds as they head towards the exit.

**XXXXX**

"So, when do you want to come back for Charlie?" Scotty asks Lilly, once they're out.

"I think we should go to Kelly Simpson first," Lilly says, thoughtful. "She could give us closer insight into Jill, it seems."

"Unless…" Scotty starts, with a smirk. "Charlie seems pretty close to the family."

Lilly laughs incredulously. "No, Scotty. Alice Hannigan didn't strike me as the kind of woman who'd stand having a relationship with such an obnoxious man."

Scotty shakes his head, still smiling. "I don't know, Lil. There were some weird vibes in there."

Lilly rolls her eyes, still laughing as her cell phone rings. "Rush." As she listens to the person on the other side, her smile slowly fades away. Her face is fully serious when she says to Scotty, "Scotty, let me drive now, please."

Scotty tosses her the car keys. "Sure, Lil."

"I need to stop somewhere," she says, opening the car door. "Is that OK with you?"

"Of course. Something wrong?" he asks, worried.

"I'll explain on the way," she says, as they get into the car and take off at full speed.

**XXXXX**

**To be continued...**

**XXXXX**

**Thanks:** to my beta-reader, Joutsensydn; and to my reviewers Shy9, Snow Ivy and Queen Bess.


	3. The Husband

"**Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 3 – The Husband**

While Lilly and Scotty are visiting Alice Hannigan, Nick and Will drive to the suburbs to talk to Peter Campbell, who now owns an acting school. As Will drives, Nick observes the houses, which get more and more sumptuous by the

block. "If Campbell's students are from this neighborhood, he certainly shouldn't have any problems with payments." After a while, he shakes his head. "I think I chose the wrong profession."

Will laughs. "I have serious doubts your face would sell nice on TV."

"I'm not necessarily talking about show business," Nick replies. "But I think I could've made it there."

Will smiles as he shakes his head. "If that thought gets you through the day..." Nick just glances at Will and doesn't answer.

A couple of blocks away, they finally reach the address they were looking for. It's a huge house, old but very well taken care of. Its outside is newly painted in a perfect white color, which, lit up by the bright summer sun, is almost blinding. A small sign reads: "The Peter Campbell School of Acting."

The front gate is open, so the detectives go in. The beautiful front garden is decorated with roses of all colors. Three steps lead up to the front door, above which there's a sign that says, "We're actors – we're the opposite of people."

"Deep," Nick mouths to himself as Will rings the doorbell. The door is opened by a tall, blond man, with big hazel eyes and apparently no older than forty.

"Peter Campbell?" Will asks. The man nods and the detectives flip their badges. "Detectives Jeffries and Vera, Philadelphia P.D. We're here about Jill Hannigan."

Peter's face is suddenly struck by a wave of sadness. He's speechless at first. "OK. Please come in," he finally says, composing himself. Peter then leads the detectives into the house, which is beautifully furnished and sports several pictures of artists and play promotion posters on its walls.

"I hope this isn't a bad time," Nick says.

"No, I have until the next group comes," Peter answers. They finally reach what looks like a waiting room. Peter points out the couch to them. As they take a seat, a baby starts crying loudly in a room nearby. "Oh, excuse me, detectives," Peter says, leaving the room. Less than a minute afterwards, he comes back, carrying a baby boy in his arms. "Sorry about that. My wife traveled to Maine this morning and he already misses his mommy," he explains, sitting down with the baby still in his arms.

Nick nods and begins. "Well, Mr. Campbell, we're here because the investigation of Jill's murder has been reopened."

"Really?" Peter asks, surprised. "What happened?"

"The murder weapon was recovered," Will answers. "Why the surprise, Mr. Campbell?" he asks, slightly suspicious.

"Don't get me wrong, Detective," Peter answers, serious. "It's just that after all this time, I never thought anyone would still want this case cracked." At Will and Nick's puzzled expressions, he explains further, "You know, a whole city can live off a myth like this."

Nick and Will exchange a glance as Peter's unusual point of view sinks in. Nick goes on, "So, Mr. Campbell, what can you tell us about Jill's last days?"

Peter sighs. "To be honest, Jill and I weren't very close during her last weeks. She was really busy doing the play and several magazine and TV interviews. And I had a lot going on too."

"But you had a role in the play, didn't you?" Will asks.

"Yeah, a small one." Peter nods. "Only because Jill insisted. She thought it would be a chance for us to be together," he explains, while trying to distract his son, who's pulling on his father's shirt's sleeve. "Stop it, Josh," he scolds, holding the little boy's hand.

Nick smirks at the kid, and asks Peter, "Jill's idea didn't work out?"

Peter shakes his head. "No. I only had one scene in the play, so Alice and Charlie said I didn't even need to show up for rehearsals."

"What did you make of Jill's murder?" Will asks, leaning forward on the couch. "Can you think of anyone who might have had a motive to kill her?"

Peter reflects for a few seconds. "Honestly, no," he replies. "But, on the other hand, Jill kept a lot to herself. After doing a lot of thinking about her death, I came to the conclusion that the reason of her murder is something only she and her killer will ever know."

"That sounds like a whole lot of resignation," Will notes. "Are you living off her myth too?"

"Not at all, Detective," Peter answers. "And you have no idea how much it pains me to say what I've just said." His direct look into Will's eyes makes the detective back down.

"OK, Peter," Nick says. "You don't have the big scoop. But this is your wife we're talking about. You gotta know something."

Peter sighs. "OK. There's something that might be able to help you out."

**Flashback to 1992**

At the theater, the play is being presented, and Peter is on stage. He finishes his scene and leaves, heading to the dressing rooms. Suddenly, he hears a voice behind him. "Hey, Campbell." It's Charlie and he sounds irritated. "I need to talk to you, now."

Peter stares at Charlie for a couple of moments, impressed by the harsh tone of his voice, but, nevertheless, follows him into one of the offices down the hall. Once they're inside, Charlie quickly shuts the door. "Peter, Alice told me you're in negotiations with some LA producers," he says, waiting for a confirmation.

Peter nods, still puzzled at what's going on. "Yes, I am. I might get a role in an upcoming soap opera."

"You can't take Jill away from the play," he states, in dictatorial mode.

"What are you talking about?" Peter asks, beginning to get annoyed by Charlie's interference.

Charlie sighs impatiently. "Don't waste my time, Campbell. I know she's thinking about following you to LA," he blurts out.

Peter finally understands Charlie's apprehension and is definitely surprised by it. "She what?" he asks, almost laughing. "No, she's not, Charlie. Where did you get that?"

"It doesn't matter," Charlie answers, in a calmer tone but still suspicious. "But I don't believe for a minute she's OK with you going."

"She's not," Peter replies. He pauses, not sure whether to go further, but then goes and says it anyway. "That's why she left me."

Charlie looks truly shocked. "Oh. I didn't know that..."

"No one does," Peter interrupts. "We're trying to keep it quiet until we work it out, to avoid bad publicity."

Charlie nods. "OK. I understand. But, remember, if Jill leaves the play, there'll be trouble." He jerks his head toward the door, signaling for Peter to leave the room, which he does.

**Back to 2005**

"He threatened you?" Nick asks, all interest.

"I'm not sure," Peter answers. "To be honest, it didn't feel like a threat." He pauses, thoughtful; bites his lip and goes on, "It was more like he was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Will asks.

Peter shrugs. "I have no idea. But from the beginning it was clear he was completely invested in that play, like it was somehow more special to him than any of his other work."

Nick glances from this notepad to Peter. "The play was successful, right? He might not have wanted to risk his profits."

"Yeah, that's my guess too, but you see, I don't think this problem was so... personal," Peter says.

"What do you mean?" Nick asks, starting to get the feeling they weren't going anywhere with this.

"The public sees only the pretty part of a theater production," Peter explains. "They don't know what goes on behind the scenes. The relationship between directors, writers and producers can get really ugly sometimes."

"You think he was having problems with the powerful ones?" Will asks.

"Yeah, I can't think of anything else," Peter answers.

"But then, wouldn't he have had this problem every time?" Will remarks. "What made this one so special?"

Peter shakes his head. "I don't know, Detective. Charlie and I were never friends, and I didn't even know him long."

Nick stares at Peter and asks directly, "You think he's capable of murder?"

Peter laughs. "Charlie was certainly capable of murder." Then, getting serious, "But he could never be capable of murdering Jill."

**XXXXX**

Nick and Will leave the house. "Seems like we have a suspect," Nick comments.

"Maybe, but I'm not sure we're talking about the same person," Will replies, facing ahead.

"You didn't like the guy much, did you?" Nick asks, laughing.

"I just think he knows more than he's giving," Will replies as his cell phone rings. He talks shortly to the person on the other side of the line. After hanging up, he says to Nick, "Boss needs us in the office. We have to locate a person that came up in Lil and Scotty's interview."

"Why can't they do it themselves?" Nick asks, a bit miffed, as they reach the car.

"Seems like Lil had a personal emergency and they had to make a detour," Will answers. "You think it's the sister?"

Nick shakes his head. "No, this is something else," he answers, getting worried in turn. They silently climb into their car and head back to Police Headquarters.

**XXXXX**

Lilly drives in complete silence. She looks like she's fully into herself, and certainly not from concentrating on the traffic.

"Lil, maybe you should slow down," Scotty offers, hesitantly. She had promised to disclose what the phone call was about, but so far, ten minutes into their drive, she had said absolutely nothing. Considering he's not quite sure their relationship is on safe ground yet, he chooses not to ask anything.

"It's my mother, Scotty," she blurts, as way of reply. She's nervous, but still in full control of herself. "She's ill." Each of her sentences is followed by a pause, necessary for gathering new courage and strength. "That call was from the home she's staying in."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Lil," Scotty says, stunned. "How bad is it?"

Lilly keeps on driving, never looking at Scotty as she speaks. "She's having a crisis. It happens every once in a while—it just seems this one is pretty bad, so one of the nurses called me."

Scotty notices Lilly's discomfort and obvious shame as she addresses the subject, but still, curiosity wins him over. "What sort of illness does she have?"

"It's a mental illness," Lilly answers, glancing at Scotty for a split second. "Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome." She peeks at him again, and on seeing his puzzled

but interested look, realizes she'll have to go further. "It's a disorder that causes loss of some brain functions, such as memory."

"Sounds pretty serious," Scotty says, at loss of better words.

Lilly nods. "I had to have her admitted into this home a few months ago. But it seems like she's gotten worse since she left home," she sighs, sadness coursing through her voice.

**XXXXX**

After over half an hour of driving, they park in front of a nice big house. The beautiful front garden and yellow painted walls give it a warm, welcoming look. Scotty, however, hardly has time to appreciate any of this, following Lilly as she rips into the house. The doorman lets her in, no questions asked, probably remembering her from previous similar situations.

The house, which could actually be called a mansion, has a huge living room where many of its elder inhabitants are watching TV, talking or playing card games. Some of them are alone, and their empty faces clearly show they're already lost. As they reach the living room, one of the nurses runs to Lilly.

"We took her to her room," she explains, a little nervous. "We couldn't control her, she keeps screaming your name and your sister's."

Lilly sighs, "Ok. Thanks." She turns to Scotty. "You can wait here, Scotty… or outside. It's fine."

"Don't you think you might need some extra strength in there?" he asks, worried Lilly's mother might hurt her. Truthfully, he had no idea what sort of breakdown the woman was having.

Lilly nods. "Yeah, I might." Her voice is low, and again, she's ashamed. The nurse leads them to Mrs. Rush's bedroom. They don't need to get too close to hear the screaming. The nurse opens the door, motioning for them to go in. Lilly sighs, and steps into the room.

"Get off me!" Mrs. Rush is screaming. "I want to go home! You can't keep me arrested, I did nothing wrong!" She tries to free herself from the nurses—a male and a female--who are trying to subdue her.

"Mother," Lilly calls, firmly but softly. Her mother is so out of it, however, she doesn't even hear her. Lilly signals for the two nurses to leave, which they do at once.

Mrs. Rush paces around the room, her head in her hands, her face soaked in tears. She gazes around, lost. "Mother," Lilly calls again, and this time Mrs. Rush raises her head. Scotty can see who Lilly takes after, regarding the delicate face structure and piercing blue eyes. Mrs. Rush, however, seems torn apart, her face disturbingly bony, huge dark circles below her eyes. He had expected Lilly to engulf her mother in a tight embrace, as he would in a similar situation, but Lilly's careful tap to her mother's arm reminds him the Rush family, for better of for worse, was never predictable.

"Lilly!" Mrs. Rush exclaims, clearly relieved to see a familiar face. "Thank God you're here, they were trying to tie me down, give me a shot."

"The shot is your medicine. You need it," Lilly replies, coaxing her mother down on the bed.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to the young man with you?" she asks, with a smile and abrupt change of expression, like what happened a minute ago had just flown out of her mind. She seems better, but her hands are shaking violently.

"Sure." Lilly nods. "This is Scotty Valens, my partner. Scotty, this is my mother, Ellen." Scotty simply nods, not sure whether he should shake Mrs. Rush's hand or something. She seems ok with it and keeps offering him a smile. "Mother, I'm going to tell the nurse to come give you your medicine, ok?"

Mrs. Rush nods. "OK, dear. Don't take long." After the nurse gives her a shot with the much needed medicine, Lilly makes her mother lean back down on her bed. Mrs. Rush pays no mind to the shot this time, because, after making Scotty sit by her beside, she becomes completely involved in telling him a story. "So, you should have seen Lilly in her high school graduation clothes. Her hair was so long and it draped down her back. I was so proud! Then, when she went to her prom, she was the most beautiful girl ever. Her dress was red and long, and, from what I heard, all eyes were on her," she kept babbling, eyes shining. Scotty glances at Lilly, trying to keep from laughing.

Lilly watches the scene from the foot of the bed, smiling. "OK, Mom. Scotty and I need to go back to the office."

"Of course!" Mrs. Rush exclaims. "I don't even know why you came here in the middle of a workday."

Scotty looks stunned, but Lilly is already at the door, so he simply follows her. They're almost out the door when the head nurse beckons to Lilly. "Miss Rush, I

need a minute with you about your mother."

"I'm sorry about today," Lilly offers, embarrassed.

"It's OK, but this can't go on forever," the nurse says, her face stern and serious.

"What do you mean?" Lilly asks.

"There are institutions, Miss Rush," the nurse continues. "That offer more specialized care than us. They even have one nurse for each patient. I believe that's the kind of care your mother needs. Her disease is progressing and we no longer feel we're offering her the best treatment available. Not to mention the risk we place our other patients in every time she has an outburst like this."

"I can't take my mother out now," Lilly says, clearly near desperation.

"We know that. That's why we're giving you two weeks to find another home." She hands Lilly a paper. "These are a few places I'd recommend."

**XXXXX**

Lilly and Scotty walk back to the car in absolute silence. "I'm sure you'll find another place for your mother, Lil. The nurse gave you lots of different numbers," Scotty offers encouragingly. "Who knows, it might even be better in the end."

Lilly nods. Scotty notices her eyes are glistening, but not from happiness, more like there are tears dancing around in them. "Oh, Lil, don't be like that... your mom looked like she was getting better. She was telling anecdotes and everything."

Lilly laughs ruefully, shaking her head. "My mother never went to my high school graduation, Scotty. And she never saw my prom dress, either." Scotty looks startled, so Lilly goes on, "Confabulation. That's one of the symptoms of her disease. She makes up stories."

"I'm sorry, Lil," Scotty says, the lump in his throat nearly choking him. "Why didn't she go?"

"For the same reason she was sick today. Because she's a careless drunk," Lilly says bitterly, opening the car door. "Let's get back to the office, we have work to do."

**XXXXX**

**To be continued...**

**XXXXX**

**Thanks:** to my beta-reader and medical consultant, Joutsensydn; and to my

reviewers Snow Ivy, Shy 9 and MaryRose.


	4. The Director

"**Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 4 – The Director**

After the detectives walk back to Police Headquarters, Stillman is left outside the courthouse with DA Brown and ADA Kite. Being a man of few words but straightforward actions, he makes a special effort to gather all the inner strength he can to put up with this politics bullshit. Adulation, favors and small (but hardly innocent) talk are his worst enemies, so the upcoming lunch with Brown and Kite is hardly an attractive prospect.

"Say, Lieutenant. Shall we go to lunch? My treat," Brown asks, a smile plastered to his face.

"Well," Stillman says. "I actually already had a snack with my detectives, but I'll be more than pleased to join you."

"Then please do," Kite says. "Have a drink, at least." While Stillman doesn't know exactly what went on between Kite and Lilly, the indirect offer of friendship doesn't make him comfortable.

"Of course," Stillman says. It's not like he has much of a choice, anyway.

**XXXXX**

The place chosen was a nice, slightly uptown restaurant not far from the courthouse. It was filled with men and women in suits, indicating it was a place famous among business people.

The three men get a table and sit down. A waiter comes to their table, handing them the menus. "Can I get you drinks, gentlemen?"

"Two scotches for us here," Brown answers, pointing to him and Kite, who nods, and then to Stillman. "Lieutenant, you join us?"

"I'll have water, please," Stillman says to the waiter. After the young man leaves to get their drinks, Stillman explains, "Still on duty."

"Of course, Lieutenant," Brown replies. "I always forget that days in Homicide don't exactly have a schedule."

"Shall we begin discussing your new plans for routine work between the Police and the DA's office?" Stillman cuts straight to the point.

"Oh, yes," Brown begins, taking a sip of his scotch. "You see, Lieutenant – may I call you John?" Stillman nods, and Brown goes on, "You see, John, the biggest problem the DA's office has been facing is the weak investigating. Evidence leading to reasonable doubt, witnesses whose accounts don't match... that sort of thing."

"Well, it's the ADA's job to prevent these cases from going to trial, isn't it?" Stillman asks, remembering Kite's reaction at the outcome of the Lincoln case a few months earlier.

"We're not saying we're not going to do our jobs, but some cracks only show up in court," Kite answers, and Stillman is sure he got the point.

"What we want," Brown cuts in. "Is an increase in efficiency. Cases with solid investigations have easier and quicker prosecutions." He pauses, raising his glass to take a drink. "And, above all, we need to stop useless investigations."

"What do you mean?" Stillman raises an eyebrow, suspicious.

"John, don't take this the wrong way," Brown begins. "But your cold case team is the best spot a detective could ask for." He laughs. "I mean, time isn't a problem—there are no reporters breathing down your neck and most physical evidence is already gone, so what's the hurry?"

Stillman takes a few seconds to choose the words he'll use in this moment. "I think you've got it all wrong, counselor. Every day that passes with those cases still unsolved, is one more day of Police inefficiency, one more day we're letting a murderer get away." His blood is boiling, but he's completely under control. "Time is our worst problem."

Brown now goes off friendly mode. "I need your detectives to work on the line 90 of the time, at least."

"70," Stillman offers immediately, knowing he'll need to compromise if he doesn't want to lose the battle.

"Ok," Brown replies, but Stillman knows there's more to come. "But all investigations for cases 3 or more years old will need to be approved by the Chief Inspector." Stillman is stunned, and preparing an answer, when Brown quickly adds, "The Deputy Commissioner has already given his approval of this policy. I discussed it with him earlier."

Stillman looks Brown right in the eye. "I reserve my right to discuss it with him as well." He gets up from the chair, not allowing Brown to hold him back. "Excuse me, gentlemen, I'm needed at the office."

DA Brown and ADA Kite are left at the table, not exchanging a word. Brown looks satisfied, while Kite has a shadow of discomfort across his face.

**XXXXX**

About half an hour later, Stillman storms into the office, where the detectives are sitting around waiting for him. His way of storming in, however, is completely Stillman-like: serious, tense, heavy footsteps, but no sign of emotional commotion. "Sorry for leaving you guys on your own today," he says as way of greeting.

"So, how was the lunch with the new DA, Boss?" Lilly says, offering him the best smile she can – which right now is not a very convincing one.

"We discussed a few things, but most topics still need to be ironed out," Stillman answers, and that sentence is enough to make the detectives understand the subject is to be left alone for now. And to leave them with a knot in their stomachs. At the detectives' silence, Stillman goes on, "How were the interviews today?"

"Fine," Lilly begins. "Scotty and I talked to Jill's mom, Nick and Will saw Jill's husband."

"Any promising leads?" Stillman asks, sitting on the edge of Scotty's desk.

"The mother says Jill was a big hit, and had a lot of envious people around her," Scotty answers.

"Did she point out anyone specifically?" Stillman asks.

"Yeah, one of the supporting actresses on the play," Scotty answers. "Paris McDonald. Alice overheard her threatening Jill a couple of weeks before she was killed." Stillman nods, and Scotty adds, "But the mother claims she didn't think the whole discussion was a big deal. She doesn't seem to know much about what went on with her daughter."

Stillman, Lilly and Scotty turn their attention to Nick and Will. Nick takes his cue and begins, "Husband told us some pretty interesting things. Seems like the director was terrified with the possibility of Jill leaving the play."

"She was thinking about leaving?" Lilly asks, surprised, remembering how Alice talked about Jill's success and her satisfaction with the play. It seems she really didn't know much about her daughter – or she was hiding something.

"That's rather unclear, actually," Will answers. "Her husband had a job offer in L.A., but he claims she wasn't going with him."

"They were going to split up?" Scotty asks.

"According to him, they already had," Vera says.

The detectives digest the information for a few moments. Lilly and Scotty are surprised Alice didn't mention the possibility of Jill leaving the play. "Did the husband say why the director was so worried about Jill leaving?" Lilly asks.

"He believes it was sponsor pressure, but he has nothing to support that opinion," Will answers.

"Let's hold on here. We still have too little to go on to make any assumptions," Stillman points out. "Who's next on the list?"

"We're not sure yet, Boss," Lilly begins.

"Lilly wants to visit Jill's best friend first," Scotty cuts in. "I think the director is promising enough for a visit as soon as possible."

"Jill's mother said the best friend knew everything about Jill," Lilly defends her point. "The girls knew each other since high school."

"This best friend is the person you asked us to locate, Boss?" Vera asks, searching for a piece of paper in his desk.

"Yeah, Kelly Simpson," Lilly answers, interested, walking up to Vera.

"She lives in Maine now," Vera says, reading from the paper, "In a town called Hampden."

"Never heard of it," Scotty says.

"It's in the middle of nowhere, it seems," Vera replies, with a smirk. "And she left Philly 3 months after Jill's murder. Pretty interesting, if you ask me."

"Maine?" Will cuts in, looking thoughtful. The other detectives turn to him. "Peter Campbell said his wife traveled to Maine this morning."

"Could be just a coincidence," Scotty shrugs.

"Or not," Stillman says. "Nick, Will, you look into what Campbell's wife is doing in Maine. If there's something more than a coincidence there, we'd better know before visiting Kelly." Nick and Will nod, and Stillman says to Lilly and Scotty, "You go visit Charlie Vaughn tomorrow." He sighs, and says to the detectives, "But all tomorrow. We've had enough for today. Good night." The detectives nod and start picking up their stuff. Lilly is interrupted by Stillman, who says, "Lil, I need to see you in my office before you go."

**XXXXX**

Lilly follows Stillman into his office. The other detectives have already left, all curious to know if Stillman would spill anything about his talk with the DA to Lilly. The nature of their talk, however, is very different. "What's up, Boss?" Lilly asks, entering the room. Stillman sits the down and points a chair, so Lilly sits down as well.

"What happened today?" Stillman asks.

"My mother," Lilly answers, looking down. "One of those emergencies. But everything is under control now."

"I'm not scolding you, Lilly," Stillman replies, with a paternal smile. "But I need to know what's going on."

Lilly sighs. "I have to find her a new home. A more specialized one." She pauses for a few seconds. "She had an outburst today, and they won't keep her anymore."

Stillman nods. "Do you already have any places in mind?"

"Yeah, the head nurse gave me a few recommendations," Lilly answers, faking a reassuring smile. "It's no big deal."

Stillman notices she's dying to cut the conversation short. "You know you can take all the time you need."

Lilly nods. "Thanks, Boss. But I won't need to take any time off work." She gets up. "Anything else?"

Stillman shakes his head, "No, good night."

"Good night," Lilly answers, and Stillman is sure she was lying. How could she expect him to believe this wasn't a big deal? She had never taken off for two hours for a personal emergency before...

**XXXXX**

Early the next day, Lilly and Scotty go off to visit Charlie Vaughn. They had called him and he had grumpily agreed to talk to them in a cafeteria near the Arden Theatre, but it had to be immediately. "I wonder why this guy is so cranky when it comes to this investigation," Scotty says.

"From what I hear, he's cranky about everything," Lilly replies. "Plus, I heard he was the one who had to make all the funeral arrangements for Jill, because Alice had an emotional breakdown. Maybe it gets to him. He saw the girl being born and grow up."

Scotty laughs, "Well, so did her mother. And I'm sure their connection was way stronger."

Lilly shrugs. "Let's find out then," she says, as they enter the cafeteria. Charlie is already there.

"Thanks for meeting us, Mr. Vaughn," Lilly says, as they sit down in front of him.

"Don't worry," Charlie answers, always in a vexed tone of voice. "I know you need to do this, and I don't want to stand in your way." He takes a sip of his coffee. "Don't want you to think I have something to hide, either."

"That's good, Mr. Vaughn," Scotty replies. "Thanks for your collaboration."

"Let's go straight to the point," Lilly begins. "Peter Campbell told us you were extremely worried at the possibility of Jill leaving the play."

"Yeah, Alice told me Peter had gotten a job offer in L.A.," Charlie relates. "A soap-opera role, I believe. And that she was worried Jill might leave Philadelphia to go after him." He pauses, and goes on, "Now, I have no idea if Jill actually told her she was leaving, or if it was just an impression. Either way, I was worried."

"Why?" Scotty asks.

"I don't know if you've read any newspapers from 1992," Charlie begins. "But Jill was just... everywhere. The public had fallen completely in love with her. She was very charismatic."

"Was there any pressure from the sponsors to keep her on the play?" Lilly asks, testing Peter Campbell's theory.

"No," Charlie answers. "Our sponsor wanted profits. Full house. Whoever was responsible for drawing the public, they didn't really care."

"Why all the stress, then? Was Jill irreplaceable?" Lilly asks.

"Not to my eyes," Charlie answers sarcastically. "But to her mother's eyes, surely."

"So Alice was pressuring you?" Scotty asks, surprised with the revelation.

Charlie sighs. "How confidential are these talks?" he asks.

"We don't disclose our sources unless it's completely necessary," Lilly replies.

"Fine," Charlie says. "Anyway, I don't care anymore."

**Flashback to 1992**

Charlie is in one of the theater seats, reading a script and making notes. The theater is empty and silent, and Charlie seems concentrated on what he's doing. Alice walks up to him, worried. "She's leaving us, Charlie," she blurts out.

"What?" Charlie raises his head.

"Peter got a job offer in L.A. I heard it through some friends in the TV networks. It's the job of a lifetime, he's certainly taking it," Alice explains, pacing the corridor between the seats.

"How do you Jill is going, too?" Charlie asks, still not making a big deal out of the situation.

"Everything fits," Alice replies. "She has been distant lately. Full of secrets with Kelly, making phone calls and hanging up whenever I go near."

"If Jill was really planning to take off, she wouldn't leave us in the dark," Charlie says, shaking his head. "Besides, it would be a very stupid move, career-wise. She's not famous outside Philly, and I'm sure she doesn't want to live in Peter's shadow." He turns back to his script.

"Charlie, you have to talk to him," Alice orders. "Peter can do whatever he wants, but Jill has to stay. I can't get involved because Jill would never forgive me, but you can."

"Alice," Charlie says, starting to get irritated. "I can't tell your daughter what to do." He gets up, knowing he won't get any more work done now. "Besides, you know I think Jill is too technically immature to play a leading role."

"She's doing a good job, you acknowledged that," Alice replies.

"Yeah, for a girl in her first acting job," Charlie retorts. "But there are people in this cast who could do better."

"Look, Charlie, we're not having this discussion again," Alice says. "And, in case I haven't made myself clear, what I want is for you to tell Peter Jill isn't going to L.A. with him." She pauses, eyeing him sardonically. "Or do you want me to tell every producer in L.A. how you took money from my plays' profits for over 10 years, to support your gambling problems? No other employer would have been as understanding as I was."

"You were understanding because you knew I had a serious problem," Charlie replies, stunned that Alice could be using that against him. "And I have paid you back every penny."

"Whatever, Charlie," Alice says, leaving the room. "Just take care of it."

**Back to 2005**

"And so I did," Charlie concludes.

Lilly and Scotty share a glance, knowing Charlie can't possibly be the victim he's making himself out to be. "So, this was all Alice's doing," Lilly says to Charlie.

"Look, I'm no saint," Charlie replies quickly. "I did what she wanted because I had to. But the truth is, I didn't think she had anything to worry about."

"You said you didn't think Jill was the best choice for the lead," Scotty points out.

"Yeah, I thought Paris McDonald was a much more skilled actress," Charlie says. He reflects for a second, and adds, "On the other hand, she had no real passion for the art. It always seemed to be something personal between the two of them."

"You ever hear Paris threatening Jill?" Lilly asks.

"No," Charlie shakes his head. "But I wouldn't doubt it. You see, Jill, Paris and that other girl – Kelly Simpson - they had known each other for years. Even if Jill and Kelly couldn't stand Paris, they frequented the same circles." He finishes his coffee. "You probably know from your files Jill had some wild years."

"How much do you know about that?" Scotty asks.

"I had to bail her out of trouble a couple of times. But I chose not to get involved much, even though I cared about the girl," he answers. "I know this may sound harsh, but I had my own problems. And she did seem to pull herself together afterwards."

"Why do you think she was killed, then?" Lilly asks, sure this guy knows something he's not giving away.

"Honestly, I don't know," Charlie shrugs. "There was one thing Alice said that I agreed with, though." He pauses, wondering if the detectives will pose the obvious question, but their direct looks are enough. "Jill was hiding something. She was worried about something way more serious than moving to another city."

**XXXXX**

**To be continued...**

**XXXXX**

**Author's note: **The info on the hierarchy of the Philadelphia Police Department was taken from this page: www . ppdonline . org / ops / opsorgchartdet.php (just erase the spaces).

**Thanks:** to my beta-reader, Joutsensydn; and to my reviewers Snow Ivy, Shy 9, myril and peach-fan14. Thanks so much guys, and sorry for the delay. I hope it was worth it!


	5. The Supporting Actress

"**Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 5 – The Supporting Actress**

That same morning, after Lilly and Scotty left to interview Charlie Vaughn, Nick and Will stayed in headquarters doing some research, getting ready to meet Paris McDonald. They had scheduled to meet at her office - she no longer worked as an actress, but as the head of her family's company – _Sun Advertising_.

Nick gets off the phone and says to Will, "Just talked to Sun Advertising's Public Relations. Turns out they're huge art sponsors." He smirks. "Guess what play they were sponsoring in 1992."

Will smiles knowingly. "Alice Hannigan's "_Body and Soul"_. Nick nods in confirmation, and Will goes on, "Paris was second-best in the play her daddy was paying for."

"I doubt the McDonalds were happy about this," Nick adds. "You got her file?"

Will nods. "Yeah. She also had a substance abuse problem, same period as Jill had hers." He leans back in his chair. "Either Paris helped Jill go down, or they were actually good friends and playing everyone."

"Why?" Nick asks, not really grasping Will's theory.

"22-year-old girls," Will replies. "Who knows what they were after."

Stillman comes out of his office. "How are things doing?"

"Fine, Boss," Nick answers. "We're about to leave to talk to Paris McDonald."

Stillman nods. "She was Jill's nemesis, wasn't she?"

"So far, that's what it seems," Will says, getting his overcoat. "We're leaving now, Boss." Having worked with Stillman for a good share of years, Will can tell he's worried about something and avoiding the subject. "Anything else you need, Boss?"

Stillman takes a few seconds to answer. "No, no." He shakes his head. "Go ahead. And good luck," he says as he watches the detectives leave the office.

**XXXXX**

Nick and Will park the car in front of Paris' office building. Sun Advertising is set in a beautiful, glass-walled skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia. According to Nick's findings, Sun Advertising occupies half of the building's sixty floors. "How does an advertising agency need thirty floors of a building?" Will thinks out loud, as they wait for the lobby receptionist to get in touch with Paris' secretary and authorize their access.

"Seems like they not only create the ads and commercial campaigns – they also produce all the TV commercials and printed ads, outdoors and such," Nick says as he paces the lobby.

The receptionist notices his impatience and says, with the enticing smile of all receptionists, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Detectives, but we have high-security procedures. You two can already go up. Please take the elevators on your right to the 60th floor." After she finishes she hands them their visitors' access cards.

"High-security," Nick grunts. "I guess we should understand, we're the _Police_ after all," he says sarcastically.

Nick and Will reach the 60th floor. Once the elevator doors open, they're stunned by the modernity and sumptuosity of the office. All the furniture seems to be latest fashion. Strong and vivid-colored couches, chairs and carpets feast their eyes. No one working there seems less than twenty-five years old.

The detectives are greeted by a beautiful young woman, who introduces herself as Paris McDonald's secretary. "Miss McDonald has been waiting for you," she says, leading them to Paris' office at the end of the hall. As they enter the room, Paris is talking on the phone, seemingly with one of her clients. She signals for them to take a seat and continues her conversation. That gives the detectives time to analyze the woman they're about to interview.

If she were to be described in one word, the word would be "classy". Very elegant in her white shirt and light purple, knee-length crepe skirt, topped off by discreet make-up and a nice, a little above-the-shoulder haircut, Paris oozed professionalism. A couple of minutes later, she hangs up and greets the detectives with a smile. "Sorry, things are crazy today. Nice to meet you."

"It's our pleasure, Miss McDonald," Will says. "I'm Detective Jeffries, this is Detective Vera."

Paris smiles. "I have to admit, I never thought anyone would come back to ask me about Jill again. Jill and I weren't exactly friendly, as you probably know, but I'd like to help anyway I can."

"You put all your past grudges behind you?" Nick asks, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"The ones regarding Jill, certainly," she says, leaning back in her chair. "Looking back, everything we did to each other seems so petty and stupid."

"You do understand your rivalry makes you a suspect, don't you?" Nick shoots.

Paris nods. "Of course. And I wouldn't be surprised if you had an eye-witness willing to swear I threatened Jill. I did threaten her, and I made up so much stuff to make her look bad," she calmly relates. "But I certainly did not kill her."

"Can you tell us the reason for all this antagonism between you two?" Will asks, picking up his notepad.

"It's not just one reason," Paris begins. "But the beginning of it dates back to our sophomore year in high school. There was this guy – Chad – that I was just crazy about. You know, stupid teenager lovesickness," she confides, eyes blazing.

"And Jill snagged the guy," Nick offers, starting to get the picture.

"Not immediately," Paris replies. "But eventually, yes. We were never friends, but the way she did it... it was just to hurt me, you know? Because I was way more popular than she was." Slight traces of old-time bitterness creep into her voice. "Even then she was always craving for attention."

"That hardly seems enough to justify a rivalry that went on for so many years," Will notes.

"Certainly." Paris nods. "But she made it her life mission to annoy me every chance she got. She didn't even like Chad. Just played him and threw him in the garbage when he stopped being fun."

"Still, you girls seemed to hang out together a lot during your late teenage years," Nick points out.

"Yeah, we had lots of mutual friends. As high school progressed and our tastes, uh…" She hesitates for a second. "Narrowed down, in the end it was just me, Jill and Kelly."

"By tastes, you mean drugs, right?" Nick asks. "I read your file and I must say, you girls had some pretty wild years."

Paris looks uncomfortable. "That's true. Kelly was just a casual consumer but Jill and I hit rock-bottom pretty hard. Jill got out faster than I did, though. At the time the play was being produced, I wasn't entirely myself yet."

"Speaking of the play," Will begins. "Why did you quit acting?"

"To be honest, I was never really into it," Paris explains. "It was mostly about competing with Jill. And, of course, all the fun being in such an environment can provide." She smiles. "A lot of people told me I was good, better than Jill, even. But after she died, I just didn't feel like doing it anymore."

"Your company sponsored the play back them," Nick states. "Ever try to use that against Jill?"

"Of course!" Paris exclaims. "In my little, still-stuck-in-her-teens mind, my Dad helping pay for all that meant I should be the star. But it never worked." She shakes her head.

"As you said earlier, we do have a witness who claims you threatened Paris in one of the dressing rooms at Arden Theatre," Will says. "You said you knew something about Jill's past."

Paris can't help laughing. "Well, I didn't really know anything." She catches hold of herself. "Not at that point, anyway. I was doing some heavy investigating, though."

"Investigating?" Nick asks, with a smirk. "And what did you turn up?"

Paris sits straight up in her chair and begins, "It all started one night, about two months before she died. We were having a cast reunion at Charlie's house – he liked doing that, to make us bond. Anyway, we were just leaving when I realized I had forgotten my scarf and went back to get it..."

**Flashback to 1992**

The whole cast is at Charlie Vaughn's house. They're at the end of what it seems to be a perfectly acceptable social gathering. All the actors and actresses, mostly young, are being shown to the door by Charlie. Paris is with them, but suddenly notices she's left something inside. "I'm going back to get my scarf," she tells one of the other actresses, running back into the house.

Everyone had left their coats, purses and such in one of the guest bedrooms, right across the hall from Charlie's office, both on the second floor. Every time they'd been there, Charlie had warned them to keep out of his office, since that was where he kept his work notes.

Paris reaches the guest bedroom. She grabs a scarf off the bed and begins to leave. As she's closing the door, however, she catches desperate murmurs coming from the other side of the half-open office door. Paris tiptoes to the door crack, realizing the person on the phone – Jill – has her back to it, so as long as she keeps quiet, she can eavesdrop all she likes.

Leaning her head into the door, Paris dedicates the conversation her fullest attention. In the office, Jill wails, "Please, I can't take it any longer." Brief pause as the person on the other side speaks. "Is it more money you want? I'll give you whatever you ask for," Jill blurts out, and Paris notices her voice is choked from holding back tears. Another brief pause, and Jill finishes the conversation. "OK. I'll wait another week." She hangs up the phone, and Paris leaves the house, wondering about what she'd just heard, a devilish smile on her face.

**Back to 2005**

"I figured there had to be something juicy behind that conversation," Paris says. "So I started in on my own investigation. I didn't turn up anything interesting, though; except that I wasn't the only one digging into her dirty laundry."

"Who else was interested in Jill's alleged secret?" Nick asks.

"This other actor in the play," Paris replies. "John Graham. He was a little uh, weird, I'd say. I never could figure out what his real intentions toward Jill were."

"How did you find out he was tailing Jill?" Will asks, both he and Nick taking careful notes.

"He came to me one day, saying that if I was looking for something to pin against Jill, he might just be able to help," Paris explains. "He asked for money and I gave him some, but he kept putting off the information."

"And you never demanded your end of the deal?" Will asks.

"Well, I was going to," Paris replies. "But then Jill was killed, and I figured whatever secret she might be carrying was better off in the grave with her." She shrugs.

"What interest could this guy possibly have in Jill's personal life?" Nick asks. Paris' story is sounding quite plausible to both of them, but they still can't be sure she's not just leading them somewhere safer for her. She is an actress, after all.

Paris reflects for a while, then answers, "At that time, I thought he carried a torch for her. Sometimes I'd notice these weird moments between them." She rests her elbows on her desk. "But near the end, Jill was weird toward everyone."

"How so?" Will asks.

"You know that time, when I threatened her?" Paris begins. "She didn't care at all." Noticing the detectives are not grasping her message, she goes on. "She was completely out of it. Like she had bigger fish to fry elsewhere. Which only reinforced my theory that she was in some kind of trouble."

"That guy you two used to fight about," Nick throws in. "Did he and Jill kept in touch?"

"Chad? Oh, yes. We became friends eventually. He was a constant presence at the events and parties we went to, being a model and all. Maybe you've heard of him: Chad O'Reilly."

"Not really," Vera shakes his head. "I'm afraid my jet-set knowledge is limited."

"Miss McDonald, do you think you could give us an exact date on that phone call you overheard at Charlie Vaughn's house?" Will asks.

"Not right now, but I can get back to you on that," she answers. "It wasn't more than 3 months before she died – that I can guarantee."

The detectives nod. They get up and Nick hands her his business card. "This is my card. Please call us back with the date, and anything else you might remember."

Paris nods. "I will. Good luck, detectives."

**XXXXX**

It's now 2 p.m. and Nick and Will are stuck in a huge traffic jam on their way back to Headquarters. Nick is driving. He's banging his head on the wheel, nearly crazy with impatience, when Will's cell phone rings.

"Hey, Lil," Will answers. Since Nick and Will weren't supposed to take so long in the interview, they're starting to get worried about them in the office.

"Well, we're stuck in traffic; don't think we'll be arriving anytime soon. There's a nasty accident ahead of us," Will explains. "But there is something you guys could get on to." He explains the main topic of their talk with Paris McDonald.

**XXXXX**

Back in headquarters, Lilly hangs up the phone. Scotty and Stillman are wandering around, waiting for her to finish the call. "That was Will," she informs them. "They're stuck in traffic and it'll take them a while to get here. But he gave me some info about their interview."

"Anything interesting?" Scotty asks, sitting on the edge of his desk.

Lilly nods. "Yes. We need to subpoena Charlie Vaughn's phone records during the three months previous to Jill's death. It seems that Paris overheard Jill talking on the phone in Charlie's office, and that conversation might lead us to someone with a motive."

"What was the conversation about?" Stillman asks.

"Since Paris only heard Jill's side of it, it's not that clear," Lilly replies. "But apparently it involved Jill paying someone off." Scotty and Stillman nod, both agreeing this bit could go places. "Also, he gave me a name to look up – John Graham."

"Who's that?"

"Another actor in the play. He made it clear to Paris he held some juicy tidbit on Jill's private life."

"Get on it. Let me know when Nick and Will arrive," Stillman says, stalking back into his office.

**XXXXX**

It was around 7:30 p.m. when Lilly left. The day had been quite productive, investigation-wise. They'd managed to add a couple of pieces to the puzzle – it was clear Jill was hiding something, and they had already found out the means and people necessary to get the full story. Also, two more characters – John Graham and Chad O'Reilly - had been added to the picture, widening their scope of possible suspects.

Lilly was walking down the deserted parking lot, musing about all the possibilities this new information could bring them, as well as the trip she and Scotty would be taking to Maine to interrogate Kelly Simpson. Stillman had set it for the night after tomorrow, thus leaving Lilly little time to deal with her mom's transference to a new home. She makes a mental note to go to Ellen's current home and make the final arrangements, since she had managed to find a place that seemed suitable. In the midst of all these thoughts, she's suddenly called back to Earth by a harsh voice calling out, "Detective Rush!"

She turns to find a familiar face – DA Brown. She's surprised, and secretly not at all pleased he's gone after her for a little private chat. "Good evening, Mr. Brown," she greets him warily.

"Good evening, Detective. I'm glad I was able to catch you before you left," he says, his tone smooth and polite, as appears to be his trademark.

"What is it?" Lilly asks, wondering what he could possibly have to talk about that's so urgent.

"It's about the subpoena request you issued this afternoon," he began. "You know, Charles Vaughn's phone records."

"What about it?" Lilly asks, suddenly worried. The DA's only interfered in that sort of request when there was something suspicious about it. And her request had been perfectly legal and plausible, or so Kite had assured her. "As far as I knew, the judge had signed it, and Mr. Vaughn was about to be summoned."

"Oh, yes, he's been summoned," Brown replies. "That's why he called me." A threatening smile begins to curve at his lips.

Lilly needs only a few seconds to tie the loose ends together. Charlie, that son-of-a-bitch, playing cooperative - of course he had to have connections. "You know Mr. Vaughn?" she asks, taken aback by the revelation.

Brown nods menacingly. "Since I was born. He's my uncle. My mother's own little brother." He admires the effect his words have on Lilly – she disguises it well, but it's clear she's shocked and uncommonly dejected. "He resents being treated like a suspect by the Philadelphia Police."

Lilly sighs. "As you probably already know, the records were only requested because the victim was seen making a relevant phone call in his office," she explains, giving Brown a withering look. "He's not a suspect. Not yet, anyway." She resumes her walk toward her car.

Brown falls into step with her. "Couldn't you just have picked up the phone and politely asked for the records? My uncle was obliging when you talked to him earlier today, wasn't he?"

Lilly chuckles sarcastically. "Well, if he had really meant to be obliging, he wouldn't have gone running and whining to you."

He takes a sudden step ahead of her, blocking her way. "Listen, Detective Rush. You better watch your tone. It might get you in trouble." Lilly just stares at him. She judges it better not to answer, but she's not backing off either. "Just some friendly advice: be careful when it comes to my uncle."

"What, you're going to obstruct justice now?" Lilly asks, getting into his face. Brown's eyes shoot about, making sure no one is watching them.

"One thing I gotta say about you, Detective. You're bold," he retorts with a grin. "If life hadn't put us in the places we are today, we might have had something interesting together." He raises his hand to touch her face, but he doesn't – just lets his fingers dawdle around her chin and cheeks. "But don't flatter yourself too much. My advice still goes."

Lilly smiles ironically. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of your dear uncle. If he's innocent, he'll have nothing but wonderful memories of us."

Brown mirrors her smile, getting out Lilly's away and sauntering back to where he came from. "Enjoy your game while you can, Detective Rush."

Lilly remains still as his words linger in the air. By the time she turns around, Brown is just a foggy image in the distance. She has no idea what he means by that threat – but she's sure this isn't the last she'll hear from him.

**XXXXX**

**To be continued...**

**XXXXX**

**Thanks:** to my beta-reader, Joutsensydn; and to my reviewers Snow Ivy, Shy 9, peach-fan14 and AthenaIceGoddess, and also to everyone who's possibly reading but not reviewing (you don't want to change your mind?). Love you all!


	6. The Best Friend

**Author's Note:** I've resurrected this fanfic. First I must apologize for abandoning it for almost 4 years and I hope there's still some interest about it. As I publish this I have already written all the remaining chapters, so this time this fic will be completed.

I must remember that this is a story set in 2005. Please forget everything that happened in the season 2 finale and after.

Thanks for reading, and please review!

XXXXX

**"Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 6 – The Best Friend**

XXXXX

Sitting in her kitchen, Lilly plays with the coffee inside the mug. She swings the mug and watches the circular waves the coffee makes inside. She rests her chin in her open right hand, elbow in the table, and watches her cats dig hungrily from their breakfast. Since she was a kid, Lilly always loved animals. Back in Kensington, all the thin, scabious dogs were her friends, like the silent and smart cats. Her mother wouldn't let her or Christina bring any of those animals home, though. They were doing badly enough without another hungry mouth to feed, Ellen would say. That wouldn't prevent Lilly from sparing a piece of her old bread to those bony dogs. Or some crusts to a bird that would always come sing in her window in the mornings. The best alarm clock she ever had to get to school on time.

She finally takes a sip of her coffee. It's cold already, and it sends a shiver down her spine. She shakes her head and decides to get a move on. She has two hours to pick up her mom, drive her to the new home, and go to the office. She and Scotty are leaving tonight to Maine, and there are still a couple of details to be ironed out. They need to study Kelly's profile, and go through Charlie Vaughn's phone records, which should arrive early in the afternoon. Lilly can't help playing the scene of her meeting with DA Brown back and forth in her head. She wishes she could slap him with her bare hands. Brown is very mistaken, if he believes she'd be a puppet in his hands. She knows Stillman is worried about something, and she can only imagine what Brown must've said to him. Since the previous night, she's pondering if she should tell Stillman about what happened. Maybe it isn't the moment to lay other burden on his shoulder. On the other hand, Stillman wouldn't be pleased if she kept that event a secret from him. He deserved to know who he was dealing with.

She decides to put that issue in the back of her mind for the next couple of hours, knowing she's got too much in her mind now to make a good decision. She grabs her coat, her car keys, and leaves.

XXXXX

Lilly arrives at her mother's home at 9 a.m., like she had previously scheduled with the head nurse. She walks into the home and most of its inhabitants are already up and having their breakfasts. As Lilly reaches the living room, she spots her mother sitting on one of the couches, staring blankly ahead, her luggage beside her.

"Mother," Lilly approaches Ellen, kneeling down by her side. "I'm here to pick you up." She almost whispers. Ellen remains still, her gaze fixed in a faraway point in the distance.

"In her condition, a move in housing is a great challenge, not easy to deal with," The head nurse explains. "But it'll be for her best. The place you're taking her is much more appropriate for people in her condition." Lilly gets back up, and just nods, a faint agreement smile on her face. The nurse goes on, helping Lilly with Ellen's luggage, "What about your sister? I remember she came along when your mother was brought in."

"She's out of town, couldn't make it," Lilly answers sharply, not giving space for any other questions regarding Christina. "Mom, let's go," Lilly says, touching her mother's arm.

Ellen stares up from the couch. "OK." She answers emptily, like she was just an obedient doll.

"We gave her some tranquilizers to make it all easier for you," The head nurse whispers to Lilly as they walk outside.

On the way to the new home, there's a small traffic jam. Lilly notices Ellen is starting to get impatient, but doesn't say anything. She knows the best in these situations is not give space to any reactions from her mother. "You know, your sister came by to visit me the other day," Ellen bursts, in a provoking tone.

"What?" Lilly asks, caught by surprise by that remark. Even though Lilly knows her mom could've simply gone into one of her confabulation moments, she had forgotten to ask the home's secretary if anyone had stopped by in the last couple of days.

"Yeah, she did," Ellen insists. "She couldn't believe how badly I was being treated in that place." Lilly keeps her eyes on the road. "Why isn't she here today?"

"I don't know, Mom. Did you tell her you were moving out?" Lilly asks, deciding to play along and see where this conversation will go; even though she knows she always regrets when she plays along to her mother's confabulations.

"Oh." Ellen hesitates. "How will she know where I am? Will you tell her?"

"Sure, if I see her." Lilly answers.

"She's a busy girl. But I know she'll come as soon she has the time." Ellen says. "And you could come with her." She adds, in an almost reprimanding tone.

Lilly turns to her Mom and opens her mouth to answer, but gives out at the last second. _She's just out of her mind_, Lilly tells herself, not without a little uncertainty.

XXXXX

After getting her Mother settled in the new home, Lilly arrives at the office. The other detectives are already there, making small talk as they wait for Lilly.

"Good morning," Lilly greets everybody. "Anything new?"

"We just got Charlie's phone records," Scotty answers. "We were just waiting for you to get started."

"Let's go, then," Lilly says, anxious to see if they would get some answers from those phone records. But the truth is she was having a gut feeling that this case was about to get even more complicated.

As they're starting to read, Stillman walks by. "Hey, Boss," Lilly calls out. As Stillman turns around to her, she adds, "I need a minute with you today before leaving for Maine." The other detectives look up from their stack of papers.

"OK." Stillman nods. "Come in whenever you want."

XXXXX

Later that day, Lilly and Scotty are at the airport, waiting to catch their plane to Maine. After the flight they'd still have a two-hour drive to the city of Hampden.

"I wonder why Kelly needed to bury herself so far away," Scotty says, trying to start a conversation. Scotty wasn't sure if it was about her mom, or if it was about something else – whatever she needed to see Stillman about.

"Yeah, it is suspicious," Lilly says, "But maybe she just had a hard time staying so close to where her best friend died." She glances at the airport panel that announces the next flights. "Whatever her reasons were, I just hope they can shed some light into Jill's murder."

The panel announces their flight, and they head to get on board. Scotty's cell rings. He answers and just listens to the caller. He gets more and more disappointed by the second. He hangs up with a sigh. "That was Vera," he tells Lilly.

"So?" she asks anxiously. "Anything interesting on Charlie's phone records?"

"The number Jill called traced back to a fake I.D.," Scotty shares. "Some guy with a funky Russian name."

Lilly sighs, angry that they might've hit another dead end. "Wait," her face gets lighter, "Private investigators usually use fake I.D.s for their phone lines."

"Yeah, Jeffries is following that line of thought," Scotty says, "He's asking around other investigators to see if anyone knows that name. But those guys are not very eager to share information on one another." The two detectives take their seats on the plane. "I really hope Kelly Simpson can help us."

XXXXX

The next day, Lilly and Scotty head to talk to Kelly Simpson. They meet at Kelly's house, a modest but very comfortable place, where she lives with her husband and two sons – 3-year-old twin boys.

Scotty and Lilly knock on the front door. "Hello. You must be Detectives Rush and Valens." A beautiful young woman who opens the door greets them, "I'm Kelly Simpson. Please come in." Lilly and Scotty observe her. No more colorful locks in her hair, no more nose or eyebrow piercings. Just her natural blonde hair, just down her ears. No one would tell that woman was in her late thirties.

They all get settled on the living room. "Kelly, as we talked, we're looking into Jill Hannigan's murder," Lilly starts.

"Yes," Kelly nods. "I think I've told anything I knew back then, but I hope I can help anyway."

"We've made some interviews by now, and some points came up," Scotty says. "We hope you can help us understand what really happened."

"For instance," Lilly takes the cue, "Jill's husband, Peter, had a job offer in L.A.. Do you know whether she was considering going with him?"

"Yes." Kelly answers immediately. "No one knew about that, not even Peter. Jill didn't want to influence his decision in any way, so she was going to wait until his contract was signed to tell him her decision."

"This is odd," Lilly objects. "Why did she leave him, then?"

"Yeah, I couldn't figure that one out, either," Kelly answers. "Jill told me she was afraid Peter would refuse the offer because of her, so she was going to play that farce. To be honest, I didn't buy that, but Jill was killed before this could be cleared up, so I never knew if there was something else."

"How do you think Alice and Charlie would take the news of Jill leaving?" Scotty asks.

"Alice would freak out, certainly," Kelly says, nodding. "She really wanted Jill to make it, and if she left the play, who knows if she would've gotten any acting jobs in the West Coast. You got a tougher competition there." Kelly's coffee machine makes a noise announcing their coffee is ready. Kelly gets up and comes back with coffee cups for them. She goes on, "As for Charlie, he wouldn't be pleased, because it would be hard to find a replacement for Jill in the middle of the season. But I don't think he would care so much. He never seemed to care very much about anyone."

"Alice was very protective towards Jill?" Lilly asks.

"I think she blamed herself for Jill getting involved with drugs," Kelly says. "You know, during Jill's childhood and teen years, Alice was traveling around and outside the country with her plays. So, Jill was by herself, and she looked for consolation in the wrong places, with the wrong people."

"Anything besides drugs?" Lilly insists, interested in that point.

"Well," Kelly starts, a little embarrassed. "She would go out, get high, and, you know. Have a lot of casual dates."

Lilly and Scotty share a look, not sure if that information is in any way relevant. "Did this behavior bring Jill any consequences?" Scotty asks.

Kelly reflects for a moment. "I don't think it had any material consequences," she answers. "But it surely didn't do any good for her emotional situation, and her self-esteem."

As this wasn't leading to anything palpable, Lilly decides to go another way. "How was Jill's relationship with Paris McDonald?"

"They clashed a few times, especially during high school," Kelly says. "Paris could be really petty. But neither Jill nor I were the sweetest girls on the block. She was certainly jealous of all the attention Jill was getting, but then, so was I." She laughs, bitterly. "I don't think Paris did it."

"What do you know about John Graham?" Scotty asks.

"That one was a real freak," Kelly reacts. "When we first met him, we thought he was just a quiet guy; but he was always sneaking around Jill. We'd be having a casual talk and he'd show up from nowhere. Besides that, he always treated everyone nicely and he was certainly a talented actor."

"Do you think he had any special interest on Jill?" Lilly asks.

"I never saw anything that led me to believe in that, but it seemed like his wife might have," Kelly answers.

**Flashback to 1992**

In the dressing room of the Arden Theater, there's a rush of actors and actresses getting ready, as the play is about to start. Kelly is doing the finishing touch in Jill's make-up, as they both chat happily. Along with them is Diana Graham, the assistant costume designer. She seems to get along with them just as fine.

"So, Diana, I've heard about some nice opportunities in L.A. for you," Jill says, eyes closed as Kelly works on her eye-shadow, "Peter said he can make some calls if you're interested."

"Oh," Diana seems touched by the offer, "I'm not sure… it's fantastic but I need to talk to John first. I can't make such a life-changing decision without discussing with him." Her tone of voice is timid. One could say she looks scared.

"Well, you make up your mind, and let us know," says Jill.

At this point, the girls' conversation is abruptly interrupted. "Jill, I need to talk to you," John Graham says approaching them. "You know, about that person that had that apartment to rent," He adds, but his explanation seems out of the blue. Kelly looks suspicious and Diana, not really pleased since she has no idea why Jill is recommending and apartment to her husband. They were not considering moving.

"Oh, sure," Jill agrees immediately. She glances at Kelly, who nods, signaling that her make-up is done and she's free to go. Jill and John leave the room, leaving Kelly and Diana in a weird silence.

"You know what this is about?" Diana asks Kelly, eyes following John and Jill as they go out of their sight. "Why the hell is Jill recommending and apartment for John?"

"I have no idea," Kelly answers as the packs up her make-up material. "Maybe it's for a friend of you guys?" She offers.

"We have no friends here in Philly, we've been here less than a year," Diana says, and adds, "Last week they were talking and when I arrived they started talking about something else." She sighs, in a jealous tone of voice.

Kelly laughs, "I think you're imagining things, Diana," she says, "I'm pretty sure Jill is happy with Peter and she wouldn't trade him for anyone else in the world."

"You better be right," Diana says, in a threatening tone, leaving the dressing room.

**Back to 2005**

"Kelly, I'm going to be honest with you, this is a little confusing," Scotty observes, "One minute Diana and Jill are all friendly, Jill is offering her a hand with casting, and in the other minute Diana is allegedly threatening her?"

"Don't get me wrong detective, I didn't mean to imply we were all that close," Kelly says, with a smirk. "Diana was also a member of the 'I wannabe Jill Hannigan club', they were no best friends. But they were amicable. Now, about the job offer, it doesn't really mean anything. Jill would do that to anyone, she was really generous," she finishes.

"Did Jill share the content of her heart-to-heart with John Graham?" Lilly asks, taking notes.

"No," Kelly answers. "I think that apartment story was bull, but she never commented anything with me."

"Kelly, Jill's mom told us you two were best friends. Your best friend goes out for a suspicious conversation and you don't ask her anything about it?" Lilly asks, her eyes analyzing Kelly, still not sure if this girl is spilling all she knows.

"Jill and I trusted each other unconditionally," Kelly begins, with a trace of emotion in her eyes, "But it doesn't mean we told each other absolutely everything. We respected each other and waited for when the other felt conformable to share what she was feeling, instead of trying to squeeze it out." She stops for a moment, takes a deep breath, and goes on, "Now, looking back, obviously I wish I hadn't respected Jill's personal space that much. Maybe I could've helped and things would've been different," She finishes. Her eyes are watery.

"Ok," Scotty nods, thinking it's better to change the direction of the conversation, before Kelly becomes uncooperative. "Someone overheard Jill having a weird conversation on the phone, at Charlie Vaughn's house, possibly about paying someone off. Maybe Jill hired a private investigator, to look into some other actors' lives?" He asks.

"Again, I don't know," Kelly answers. "I did overhear one similar conversation she was having at the Theatre, over the phone. Setting up a meeting with someone, saying she already had the money."

"And this time you didn't ask what it was about, either." Lilly says, leaning back on the couch.

"I didn't have a chance," Kelly goes on, "Jill caught me eavesdropping on her, and she was really pissed. She stormed out of the room and told me to stay away from her," she says, upset. "That was two weeks before her murder."

"We have one more question, Kelly," Scotty says, then asks, "Do you know Peter Campbell's wife and what she's doing here in Hampden?"

Kelly seems a little surprised by the question, but doesn't hesitate, "Of course I know Lisa. She lived down the street. I introduced her and Peter. She's here visiting her parents."

Lilly and Scotty, undeniably, are disappointed with such a simple explanation, but they don't dig further, because it's easy for them to check on that info, and later catch Kelly on a lie, if necessary.

"Thanks, Kelly", Lilly says, as she and Scotty get up to leave. "We might be in touch again."

"I'm at your disposal," Kelly offers, with an apparently sincere look.

After they leave Kelly's house, they walk to the hotel, which is only a few blocks away. After some pensive minutes Scotty says, "I think we have same thought on our minds, haven't we?"

Lilly nods, "This girl's story is too perfect to be true."

XXXXX

Back at the Philadelphia Police Headquarters, it's been an intense day. DA Brown and ADA Kite showed up unexpectedly at the Cold Case team office, ready to announce the changes that would be made in the assignment of investigations to the Cold Case team. During that meeting, Stillman's team had been assigned two fresh new cases. They were also advised to "not drop the ball" on the Hannigan case, because the Philly PD and DA's office needed some boost in their credibility.

"We count on you to join forces with us, detectives," DA Brown says, his green eyes bright with pleasure. "And please, make sure to transmit this message to Detectives Valens and Rush," He adds.

"Sure," Nick answers, as he and Will nod in agreement. They're making a hard effort to keep their mouths from falling to the ground. Where did this earthquake come from?

"Don't worry, counselors," Stillman steps in, "My team will be doing their job as competently as always, and with cooperation to the DA's office."

"Great, great," Brown says, as he and Kite get up to leave Stillman's office. "We knew we would have your team by our side, Lieutenant."

The men shake hands and leave. Stillman accompanies them to door, coming back to Nick and Will, who are still sitting on his office, digesting what just happened.

"Boss, you could've at least given us a hint," Nick says, getting up.

Will nods, "No need to carry all this pressure on your own," he completes Nick's thought.

Stillman sits on his chair, his face loaded with tension. "I was still trying to do something to avoid this. I'm sorry."

"We can handle it," Nick assures him, as he and Will leave the office. "This new DA will see he's dealing with some ass-kicking detectives."

Outside Stillman's office, there's a man waiting. When he sees Nick and Will, he approaches them asking, "You're the detectives working on the Jill Hannigan case?"

"You got something for us?" Will answers with another question.

"Well, you don't know who I am, but some colleagues told me you have been looking for me," the man starts. "I'm Walter Ross. Jill hired my private investigation services thirteen years ago."

XXXXX

**To be continued**


	7. The Private Investigator

**"Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 7 – The Private Investigator**

XXXXX

Nick and Will exchange a dumbfounded look. That's really unexpected. Since they had been trying to locate the private investigator that Jill seemed to have hired, all they had got where phones hang up on their faces, and warnings that some things should just be laid to rest. They tried to use connections to other investigators, but those were a really united category and they would only give away a fellow investigator if they knew that person had done something really wrong or unethical – by their standards, of course.

The only two pieces of information that they had been able to dig were the name registered to that number Jill called from Charlie's house, and the information that the investigator who owned that line was out of business "for about thirteen years". They had no idea if that information was true, but if that guy is out of business for the exact amount of time that Jill has been dead, it's sure interesting.

"We're Detectives Jeffries and Vera," Will says, raising from his chair and shaking hands with the old, almost bald men standing in front of him. Nick follows him in the same action.

The two detectives studied the man in front of them, who seems to be in his mid-seventies. The very few amounts of hair he has left in the lower part of his head and completely white. He certainly looks more like a happy grandpa than a man involved with a murder, but looks are the most deceiving thing between private investigators.

"I heard through some friends that you guys were looking for me," Mr. Ross says, "I decided to come forward, hoping that I could help you solve the murder of that girl."

Nick leads the man back to the detectives' area, and points to a chair where the old man sits down, followed by the two detectives.

"We must be honest, Mr. Ross, this is quite surprising," Will starts, "The people we contacted trying to get to you weren't that helpful."

Mr. Ross nods. "We're a close bunch. They didn't know what was going on and tried to protect me. There's a lot of friendship and respect among us, especially towards the older professionals," he explains. "But I decided to come here because, although I had nothing to do with that girl's murder, I fear that what she had me investigate might have something to do with her death."

Nick leans forward in his desk, pen in hand, ready to take notes, and adds quickly, "We're listening."

"Jill first contacted me about six months before her death," Mr. Ross begins, "Explaining that she was interested in some inside info about a few other actors who worked in the play with her. Said the business was dirty and she wanted to be covered in case someone tried to take her down."

"Did she have interest in anyone in particular?" Will asks.

"She gave me about ten names, including the play's director, and her very own mother," Ross answers. "But she didn't show a bigger interest in anyone."

"You delivered her request?" Nick asks.

"Yeah, in about two months I gave her dossiers on all the names she gave me," Ross goes on. "She flipped through one or two of them, and didn't bother to look at the rest."

The questioning look on the detectives face is a sign for the former investigator to go on. "She thanked me, paid me, and said that she wasn't really interested in those people. That she was just testing me and my investigating abilities."

"So, her real interest was on something else?" Will asks.

"Someone else, actually," Ross says. "She wanted information on a long-lost high-school friend, and her daughter. Nothing related to show business."

"Did she explain why she wanted to know the whereabouts of those two?" Nick asks, wondering if and how this would tie with the murder. Things were getting more and more complicated as new information came up.

"No," Ross explains, "Neither did I ask. It was a professional relationship, not a personal one. It wasn't my business why clients wanted the information they wanted, I just made sure to get it for them."

Nick and Will share a look. They can't argue with the man on that one, as it makes perfect sense.

"Were you able to locate these people?" Nick asks, moving on with the conversation.

"Yes," Ross nods. "The girl, Nina Adams, died in 1987 shortly after the birth of her daughter, who had been given up for adoption," he adds.

"Did Jill want you to locate the Nina's child as well?" Will asks, writing down that girl's name and making a mental note to check for possible connections with Paris McDonald and Kelly Simpson.

"Sure," the former investigator answers. "Actually, when I told her that Nina had died and the baby had been adopted, Jill didn't seem surprised at all, which I found a little odd."

"Why?" Nick asks.

"When Jill first talked to me about this investigation, she said that her friend had dropped off the face of the earth when the news of her pregnancy came out," Ross explains. "Either she wasn't that fond of Nina or she already knew that part of the story."

Nick ponders for a second. They had been looking for this man for almost a week. Jill hiring a private investigator's services sure seemed very linkable to her ending up dead. However, they had been talking to Walter Ross for almost an hour and everything he was sharing was useless. Not even some juicy gossip for their pleasure. It's sure looking like a huge mislead.

He's thrown back to earth by Will next question. "What about the baby?"

"From what I dug up, Nina had been looking for adoptive parents before the baby's birth. So when her baby was born, the couple was there with her," Ross explains. "Dana and Victor Andrews. She's a nurse, and he's a lawyer. Baby was named Michelle. They lived in Darby."

The detectives scribble all the info coming from the old man in front of them, hoping something helpful will come out of it.

"Did you look into Nina's death? Child-birth?" Will asks, resting in his chair.

"That part was really unclear," Ross answers. "Her death certificate said the cause of death was undetermined. It happened two months after the baby's birth, so I don't think it was related to it. Jill didn't seem really interested in why her friend had died, so I didn't look any further."

"When you arrived you said you were coming forward because you thought the investigation might've had something to do with Jill's murder," Nick notes. "Considering everything you've told us, I gotta ask you to make that link, please," He finishes, with a trace of sarcasm is his voice. Will follows with a nod of the head.

Walter Ross sighs deeply. "It wasn't because of the investigation itself, but from what she wanted to do with the results," He clarifies.

**Flashback to 1992**

It's early morning. Jill enters a small building in a deserted street of Philadelphia. The winter blows coldly, so there isn't a single soul to witness her presence there. She makes sure to confirm that, however, as she enters the building and goes up two flights of steps.

She then nods on an old, damaged wooden door. A short man, apparently in his early sixties, opens the door. At a first glance you easily notice that he's a discreet, serious man. And he's going bald. She makes a sign with his head, and Jill enters the small apartment.

At the living room, there's a small couch on one corner, and a desk in the other. The man sits down on one side of the desk, and Jill on the other. "I have your final dossier," the man starts the conversation. "I apologize for taking almost four months to finish, but you didn't give me much information to go on." He hands her the dossier, which should almost one hundred pages.

"I understand," Jill answers, with a smile. "What you were able to do was amazing, Mr. Ross. I must also apologize for testing you when we first met, but I needed to know you were trustable and efficient," She says while holding the dossier in her hands.

"Don't worry," Ross says. "That's everyday stuff in this business. You were right to be precautious." He then leans forward in his desk. "Now, Jill, if you allow me, and since this is our last meeting, I feel the obligation to give you some warnings," He says while the young woman listens to him attently. "Be careful how you're going to use all this information. This was a closed adoption, and in these situations the adoptive parents are usually very unwilling to any contact with the baby's parents or relatives. Even a friend like you could receive a harsh reception."

Jill nods. "I'm aware of that, Mr. Ross. I'll be careful not to cross any dangerous lines." She reaches inside her purse and hands him quite a few one hundred dollar bills. "Thank you so much for your services."

"Glad I could help," He thanks her, putting the money in one of the desk's drawers. In his eyes there's a trace of worry, like he's watching a movie with a bad ending for the hundredth time. "If you ever need me again, I'm at your disposal," he adds.

Jill smiles. "Thanks. However this is probably the last time we'll see each other. I'm leaving Philadelphia in next weeks."

They shake hands. Jill gets up and lets herself out. She's holding the dossier and sporting a huge smile and a glaring look on her face.

**Back to 2005**

Walter Ross takes a moment before continuing his narrative. "She just seemed too happy, like something big was really going to happen. Maybe it had to do with her moving out of Philly, or maybe it had to do with her friend's child. What I know is that two weeks after that meeting, she was dead."

"You had a feeling she was going to contact the girl's adoptive parents?" Nick asks, relieved that the talk was finally getting interesting, investigation-wise.

Ross nods. "She didn't say that flat-out, but in one of our meetings she mentioned briefly that she and her friends used to bully Nina Adams really badly back in high-school. I guessed she regretted it and wanted to make some kind of compensation to Nina's baby."

Nick and Will take another moment to reflect. Nina Adams. That name hadn't come up in their talks with Paris McDonald or Kelly Simpson. If Jill was guilty of bullying that girl, certainly those two also had something to do with it.

"Anything else you find relevant, Mr. Ross?" Will asks, breaking the silence.

"There is another thing," the old man begins, "A few days before Jill and I met for the delivery of the final dossier, an actor from the play came to me."

"Who?" Nick asks quickly. This could be interesting.

"John… Graham?" Ross answers, hesitant. "Yeah, I think that was his name. Wanted to pay me off so I'd tell him why Jill hired my services."

"Did you do that?" Will asks.

"I told him to come back with five thousand dollars on the next day, and we'd have a conversation," Ross answers, "But he never showed up. He didn't look like someone who could come up with that amount of money in one day," he finishes.

"He didn't say anything else? Why he wanted that information?" Will asks, while Nick takes note of everything.

"He didn't go into details, but he tried to scare me, saying he was there under the orders of the play's director, who supposedly had connections," Ross tells, "But that part wasn't very convincing."

"OK, Mr. Ross, thanks for being so cooperative," Nick says, "Now, there's just one more thing we want to know: why did you close your business just a few weeks after Jill Hannigan's murder?"

Walter Ross looks almost offended. "I know what you're implying, Detective Vera," he begins. "But that wasn't the first time I saw a client of mine end up in big trouble after putting their hands in the results of an investigation I did. I can't be sure that the investigation that girl requested led to her death, but anyway, I had had enough of that life." He gets up to leave, but before that he takes a piece of paper from his pocket. "This is phone number. Call me if you need more clarifications."

"We certainly will," Nick replies, taking the paper from the older man's hand. They stand as they watch Walter Ross leave, and their investigation beginning to be more and more complicated.

XXXXX

Earlier on that same day, Lilly and Scotty are waiting for their flight back to Philadelphia at the Bangor International Airport. The taxi ride from the hotel in Hampden had been really silent. After the day he accompanied Lilly to her mother's home, she didn't share anything else with him. He knows she had transferred Ellen to a more specialized home, but that was it. Still walking on eggshells around Lilly, Scotty doesn't know how to offer help or how to let Lilly know he was there if she needed to talk.

The truth is he isn't even sure if she wants anything from him. Even though he knows and has worked with Lilly for the last two years, she's still a puzzle to him. A puzzle whose pieces are given out in a very slow and painful way.

Scotty watches Lilly as she walks from one side to the other, trying to find a place with a decent phone reception.

"Stupid phone companies," she curses, sitting next to Scotty, after giving up on her phone call. "Don't they know it's vital to get a good reception in an airport? I mean, people go places for important reasons. They have problems to solve, business deals to close, criminals to find." She shakes her head, "What if we had crucial information to give to Vera and Jeffries?" She ends her rant with a deep sigh.

Scotty scratches his head, wondering if he should say anything. Outbursts like this are so unlike Lilly he almost wants to smile and tell her it's not the end of the world. "You know, Lil, you called your mom's home this morning, and everything was fine. Maybe you could wait until we're back in Philly to call again," he risks.

Lilly just looks at him. Yeah, he's starting to feel all comfortable again. Too early for that. You can't screw your partner's sister, after being warned to back off, and expect things to go back to normal in the blink of an eye. However, and Lilly forces herself to admit, it looks like Scotty is the one who's been screwed.

Well, men do need that kind of lesson once or twice in life. You know, just to learn to keep it in their pants every now and then. She gives Scotty a glare that sends a shiver down his spine.

"Or maybe we could go look for a public phone?" He offers.

"Good idea," she says, getting up and wondering why she didn't think of that before.

It takes them no more than two or three minutes to find a public phone. Lilly quickly makes her call. "Yeah. OK. So she didn't have any other outburst, that's great. Did anyone else call asking about her, or stop by?" Scotty watches as Lilly hears the other person speaking. "OK. Thanks. Bye." She hangs up, looking calmer.

"Everything ok?" Scotty asks.

"Yeah, she had a good day," Lilly answers, as they walk back to the place they were sitting before. "Were you overhearing my phone conversations earlier?" She asks, just now realizing that when she called her mom's home on the morning, she thought Scotty had gone to the bathroom.

Scotty looks down, like a naughty little boy, than back at Lilly. "Well, it's kind of the only way I get to know anything about you," he shrugs. "Don't look at me like that, it's not like I overheard anything really juicy," he finishes, holding back a smile in the corner of his mouth.

Lilly laughs, only half mad. "I'm sorry for having such a boring life," she says, as they hear their flight being announced and head to boarding.

XXXXX

"Who was that?" Stillman asks, coming out of his office, where he had been busy making phone calls.

"That was Walter Ross," Will answers, "The private investigator Jill hired a few months before her death."

"Well, I didn't know you had located him," Stillman observes, surprised.

"We didn't," Nick replies, "He came to us."

Stillman nods. "At least something good happened today," he sighs, referring to the visit they got from the D.A.'s office. "Does he have anything interesting for us?"

"Looks like he does," Nick answers. "Jill hired him to locate a long-lost friend, who had given up a baby for adoption. Apparently she wanted to contact the baby's adoptive parents."

"Always a risk in case of closed adoptions," Stillman nods. "It could lead to something."

Will raises his head from a pile of papers he had been going through in the last minutes. "I think we and Walter Ross might still have something to talk about," he says. "I've been going through Charlie Vaughn's phone records again, and there's a call to Mr. Ross' office number two days after Jill's murder."

"She certainly didn't make that call," Stillman states the obvious, and the detectives realize they'll have to deal with Charlie Vaughn and his nephew one more time.

XXXXX

**To be continued**


	8. The Supporting Actor

**Author's Note:** Thanks for everyone who has been reading and reviewing!

XXXXX

**"Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 8 – The Supporting Actor**

XXXXX

On the next morning, Lilly and Scotty arrive early at the Philadelphia Police Headquarters. Nick, Will and Stillman are already there, working on the information given in the previous day by Walter Ross, the private investigator.

"Well, good morning, you early birds," Lilly greets her fellow detectives, arriving just a few minutes after Scotty.

"It looks like we missed out on a lot yesterday," says Scotty, who's already been told by Nick that they had news from the D.A.'s office.

"What happened?" Lilly asks.

"We were visited by your boyfriend and his new mentor," Nick says, sarcastically. Lilly shoots a killing glare at Nick for the "boyfriend" word. It doesn't matter that she and Kite broke up several months ago, they'll always mock her. "We're no longer allowed to work only on cold cases."

"What?" Scotty asks, shocked and immediately pissed off.

"Calm down, everyone," Stillman enters the conversation with his always calm tone of voice. "Lilly, Scotty, from now on, we'll be assigned current cases along with the cold jobs."

"Of course, current cases are to be prioritized," Will observes, in a resentful tone of voice.

"I've managed to postpone the assignment of current jobs until after the Jill Hannigan case is closed," Stillman adds. "I'm still working to see what else I can do. D.A. Kenneth Brown is not the only who has connections," He says, ending the conversation. He knows his detectives are angry and feeling disrespected, but talking endlessly about it wasn't going to help. "Now, Nick, Will, let's fill Lilly and Scotty in about the info we got yesterday."

"We talked to Walter Ross," Nick begins, "the private investigator Jill hired."

So, you managed to find him?" Lilly asks, pleased to hear they made such a great progress.

"Actually he found us," Nick explains, "His fellow investigators warned him about us, and he decided to come forward."

"That's… impressive," Scotty comments. In his inside, he's not buying that level of cooperation from a private investigator. Especially one whose client had been killed shortly after using his services. Still, it's early to jump to conclusions. "What did he have for us?"

"It looks like Jill hired him to locate a long-lost high-school colleague and this girl's baby," Will begins to explain, "He claims Jill told him she and her friends used to bully this girl back in high-school, and he believes Jill wanted to do something, induced by a guilty conscience."

"Did he find this girl? Who is she?" Lilly asks, interested about this information. Could this have anything to do with the murder? Maybe revenge from an angry, resentful girl?

"Her name is Nina Adams," Nick answers, "Well, her name _was_ Nina Adams. She died shortly after giving birth in 1987. We're checking her name to see if we can locate any family we could talk to."

"The baby, a girl, was given up for adoption. Ross was able to locate the girl's adoptive parents, and he believed Jill intended to contact them," Will explains further.

Lilly and Scotty sink in all the information. Why would Jill so suddenly be worried about making up for and old high-school acquaintance? Certainly her friends were somehow involved. Who know what they had done to that poor girl.

"Now, we get to the most interesting part," Stillman adds, "Will went through Charlie Vaughn's phone records again, and found another call to Walter Ross's office."

"Well, Jill must've called him more than once. Used Vaughn's phone to avoid suspicions," Scotty says.

"She certainly did that," Stillman replies. "However, this specific call was made two days after her death."

Lilly smiles sarcastically, "Old Charlie, so cooperative… no wonder he's crapping his pants."

Scotty, Nick and Will share a look. What the hell was Lilly talking about?

Lilly notices her fellow detectives reactions and realizes that Stillman has chosen not to tell them about the encounter she had with D.A. Kenneth Brown in the police headquarter's parking lot. "So, anything else?" she adds quickly, eager to change the subject.

Before anyone can answer, a young officer comes into the room and delivers a thick envelope to Stillman, "This," he says, holding up the envelope. "We subpoenaed the bank accounts and financial investments of all the Ross family. Let's see if there's something interesting in here," he adds, handing the envelope to Lilly.

"Let's check it out," Lilly says, anxiously opening the envelope and starting to check out its contents.

Meanwhile, Nick, who was on the phone for the last minutes, hangs up. "Just talked to Paris McDonald," he shares, "She confirmed what Ross told about that Nina Adams being bullied by Jill. She also confessed that she and Kelly tagged along with Jill on the bullying."

"Good. Did she have anything else?" Will asks.

"Nope," Nick answers. "She was actually surprised to be asked about Nina Adams, so I'm guessing she didn't know that Jill was looking for that girl and her child."

"Guys, listen to this," Lilly calls everyone's attention. "A week after Jill's death, one hundred dollars were deposited on Ross' wife's bank account."

"And also," Scotty cues in, "A trust fund was set up in the name of his daughter, who was sixteen years old at that time. About a month after the murder, they were already settled in Pittsburgh, where they still live."

"The trust fund money was probably what put his daughter through College and Law School in Princeton," Lilly finishes.

"Someone paid him off," Will says what everyone is thinking. "Charlie Vaughn and Alice Hannigan are the only ones who could afford an amount like that."

"We need to subpoena their bank accounts as well," Scotty says.

Lilly and Stillman exchange a look. They know they'll have to run that request through D.A. Kenneth Brown, and he won't make it easier for them. "I'm on it," Lilly says, grabbing her jacket. She's quickly followed by Stillman.

"I'm going with you," Stillman says, reaching Lilly while she waits for the elevator. "We'll put those bastards in their place."

"I can handle it, Boss," Lilly tries to argue, "I'll talk to Kite first, then…"

Lilly," Stillman interrupts them. "Kite won't be able to help you not even if he wants to. And I won't allow anyone messing up with you again," he finishes. Lilly nods, not saying anything else, as they leave the Police Headquarters.

XXXXX

Lilly and Stillman arrive at the District Attorney's office. They go straight to A.D.A. Kite, who's surprised by the visit. "Lieutenant, Detective, I wasn't expecting a visit from any of you. Any problems with that request you made yesterday?"

"We have another request," Lilly begins.

"OK, go on," Kite replies.

"We need the financial records of Charlie Vaughn and Alice Hannigan for the period around Jill Hannigan's murder," she explains.

"Alright," Kite says, taking a deep breath. He was already fully aware of the relation between Charlie Vaughn and his boss, D.A. Kenneth Brown. Lilly and Stillman better have an extremely well-reasoned explanation for this request, or else all three of them would be in a difficult position when this subpoena request reached D.A. Brown's hands. "Why do you want that information? Is it absolutely necessary?"

Lilly sighs, noticing the fear in Kite's voice. Brown is indeed a bastard. But if he thought that the Philadelphia police was going to serve his personal interests, he was _really_ wrong. He was just about to know who Lilly Rush was.

"We believe one of them paid off a private investigator after Jill's death," Lilly explains. "We know from the information we requested yesterday, that this man received money from someone. We need to know who, because this person could be interested in shutting up Jill."

"OK, I think we can get it. I'll need the documents to substantiate the subpoena," Kite says.

As he's saying this, D.A. Brown enters the room, "Just heard you were here," He says, with his cynic smile, "Do you need anything from us?"

"We've already discussed it with A.D.A. Kite," Lilly answers. Stillman observes her and notices the anger in her eyes. He stands by, ready to intervene if necessary. "We need the financial records of Alice Hannigan and Charlie Vaughn, for the period around Jill Hannigan's murder."

Brown looks at Lilly. That woman definitely got spunk. Any other detective would be scared and silent after being warned to back off by the District Attorney. Of course his uncle guaranteed that he had nothing to do with the murder of that girl. He just didn't want to be bothered by this investigation. But as a D.A. the least he could do was to avoid his family from being bothered.

"I've already discussed with you the fact that there is no need to treat my uncle like a suspect, Detective,' Brown states. "He's been cooperative with you throughout the investigation."

"He's not a suspect," Stillman enters the conversation. "But if he tries to pull some strings to avoid us to investigate whatever we need, then it's only going to look bad for him." He says, firmly. "And to the D.A.'s office."

"I was on my way to talk to Judge Sanders," Brown says, with a winning face, "Why don't we all go discuss this with her?"

Brown enters Judge Monica Sanders' office without bothering to be announced. She raises her head from some papers she was analyzing and is surprised by the large group of people that enters her office. "D.A. Brown, I see you brought some company with you."

"Yes, Judge, I'm sorry, but we had an urgent matter to resolve," Brown explains, "I don't know if you have met Lieutenant Stillman and Detective Rush," he adds, pointing to them.

"Nice to see you," Judge Sanders says, with a nod of her head, "Now, let's move on to business, shall we? What do you need from me?"

"Your honor, the Cold Case team has been investigating the murder of actress Jill Hannigan, which I'm sure you've heard about," Kite takes the lead, which surprises both Lilly and Stillman. They sure didn't think Kite would try a move that wouldn't please his new boss. "They've found a private investigator who had been hired by the victim shortly before her death. After the murder, this person's family members received large amounts of money, and there are only two people who could've afforded any kind of bribery," he explains.

"Seems good enough," Judge Sanders, "But I assume there's a reason for all of you to be here," she observes with the experience of many years as a judge.

Lilly and Stillman look at D.A. Brown, wondering if he would have the guts to say to Judge Sanders the things he has said to them. "Well, Judge," Brown begins, "Those people whose financial records are being requested are well-known, honest people, and I think it's a little hasty to force them to disclose such personal information."

Judge Sanders looks at all of them. A person does not become a judge out of mere luck, so she knows she's dealing with more than she's being told. However, the request is perfectly legal, no matter who the involved are. "The request seems perfectly fine, counselor," Sanders replies, "And even though I agree is not nice to bother innocent people, I believe justice should be the priority. Now, I'm sorry but I have a trial in about ten minutes," she adds, getting up from her chair, "A.D.A. Kite, you can come back in a couple of hours with all the documents and the subpoena and I'll sign it for you."

They all leave Jude Sanders office in silence. D.A. Brown leaves quickly, with the allegation of having another meeting to attend. You can see he's really pissed off. Lilly, Stillman and Kite are left alone in front of the office. "Thanks," Lilly says to Kite, "for staying with us in this."

Kite nods, "You did your job perfectly well, I couldn't take any other position. I'll bring the subpoena to you after I get Judge Sanders' signature," he says, as he leaves, "I hope this information will help you."

At this moment Stillman's cell phone rings. "Good. We'll be right there." He hangs up and says to Lilly, "They brought John Graham to be interrogated. Let's go."

XXXXX

Back at the Police Headquarters, John Graham is sitting at one of the interrogation rooms. Lilly and Scotty get in and close the door. They don't know much about him, except that he came to Philadelphia from New York to work in Alice Hannigan's play _Body and Soul_thirteen years ago, and he's still struggling to make it in the show business. Since then, he has divorced his wife Diana, with whom he has a son, born about a year after Jill's death.

"John Graham," Lilly begins, "Were you close with Jill Hannigan?" She asks straightforwardly.

"Well, it depends on your definition of _close_," he answers with a smirk, "All people working on a play, rehearsing ten hours day and then performing together, do end up getting close."

"Do you have an idea on who could have killed her?" Lilly asks.

Graham shrugs. "Maybe an envious person… I don't know. Maybe it was a random murder, but I'm sure you'd find that really boring, wouldn't you?"

"Don't try to play smart with us, my friend," Scotty takes his cue, "We know you and Jill were having some private talks, and at least one of which pissed your wife off."

"That was stupid jealousy," Graham explains. "Diana was young, didn't have any friends here in Philadelphia, she would get worked up about anything."

"So you admit Diana had something to be jealous about," Scotty says.

"If a person wants a problem, she can easily get one," Graham replies, "But I was not romantically involved with Jill. Those conversations were business, and they were private because in show business you often have to keep quiet until things are certain."

"Jill was going to help you with job opportunities?" Lilly asks, incredulous. It was _really_ believable that a star like Jill would be worried with a career of an unimportant supporting actor.

"Not exactly," Graham replies. "Jill had connections in L.A., because her husband Peter often worked there. She said she believed I deserved better than working only in Philadelphia and once she and Peter were settled in L.A., she would let me know about opportunities."

"Did she tell you she was going to L.A.?" Scotty asks. Interesting. Kelly Simpson told them that _nobody_besides her knew that Jill was planning on following her husband to Los Angeles.

"Yeah," Graham confirms, "but she asked me to keep quiet about that. I think she was afraid of her mother's reaction."

"Alright, John, let's go straight to the point," Lilly begins, "Why did you go looking for a man named Walter Ross, a little before Jill's murder?"

Graham is speechless for a few moments, taken aback by the question. "I was curious," he begins, hesitant. "And worried."

"About what?" Scotty asks.

"About Jill, and what she was doing involved with that kind of people," he stops for a moment. Lilly and Scotty watch him attentively, sitting in the opposite side of the table. "Also, and this is going to sound really selfish, I was worried she might be in some kind of trouble and it would affect the play. That was the best chance I've ever had in my career."

"Anyone else was worried too?" Lilly asks, trying to get him to mention Charlie Vaughn.

"Not that I knew of," Graham answers. "I tried to use Vaughn's name to make an impression in the investigator, but as far as I know I no one suspected Jill was using the services of a private investigator."

"How did you find out about that?" Scotty asks.

"I noticed that when we had meetings at Vaughn's house or rehearsals at the Theater Jill would often disappear with the excuse of having to make a phone call. One day I found a piece of paper with a phone number in her dressing room, dialed it, and got lucky," Graham explains.

"And, let's say you found out Jill was involved with something that would jeopardize the play? What would you have done?" Lilly asks. They have to squeeze _something_ out of him.

"I don't know," Graham answers, "Look, I'm not trying to be a saint here. Yes, I envied Jill. Yes, her success made me angry. This girl didn't ever study drama seriously, she just happened to be lucky and be the child of one of America's greatest play writers. Meanwhile, I had a degree in Drama from the Tisch School of Arts in New York, and all I could do was pick up what she left behind." He rants out, angrily, "But I wasn't the only one in that situation."

"Too many jealous people around her?" Scotty asks. No way this guy wasn't going to point a finger at someone. That would be suspicious.

"It wasn't only jealousy," Graham explains, "Jill had become a real star around here. Her decisions and actions affected a lot of people."

**Flashback to 1992**

The presentation of _Body and Soul_ has just ended. People are leaving the Arden Theater, while most actors and actresses are finishing changing their clothes and packing up their stuff to leave.

John Graham walks towards Charlie's office. It isn't exactly his office, but a room he and Alice use to discuss subjects regarding the plays, talk to sponsors or producers. Every time a presentation ends Charlie goes to that office and stays there for several hours, reflecting on the performance and thinking about a million ways to torture his team and make them feel like the lousiest artists in the world.

Right after the presentation ended Charlie had told John to stop by his office to have a talk, so he was headed there, trying to be prepared for all the criticism that was certainly waiting for him.

However, as he approaches the door, which is halfway open, he hears loud voices coming from inside the room.

"Are you insane?" Charlie screams. "How can you throw your life in the trash like that?"

"Look, Charlie, I'm not asking for your opinion, I'm simply notifying you of my decision," Jill answers, not yelling, but with a firm tone of voice.

"Do you think things will always come easy for you like they have been so far? Charlie goes on, fuming. "Things are tough out there, girl. You don't know life."

"I guess I'll find out," Jill says, picking up her stuff to leave.

"Jill," Charlie calls out, in a lower voice, "I understand if you want to take some time off after we're done with this play. Maybe go to college for a semester or two. But to quit show business entirely is absurd. This is the only thing you know how to do."

"This was not a decision taken overnight, Charlie," Jill replies. "Acting is the only thing I was given a chance to do. It was fun. But now I have other plans for my life. I know I won't have an easy time, but I'll have things to compensate for that."

"What about your mother?" Charlie asks, still not able to accept the news he had been given. "You're just going to call her tomorrow and says, 'Mom, I'm quitting acting, I'm leaving Philly, see you next Christmas'?"

Jill sighs, and sadly, says, "It'll have to be something like that, unfortunately. But I'm sure one day she'll understand me."

She starts to walk towards the door. John hides in the office just in front of where Jill and Charlie are, and stays listening behind the door. "Good luck, Charlie," He hears Jill say as she leaves. Charlie leaves the room a few minutes afterwards, completely disturbed. John waits for a few more minutes, and then leaves as well.

**Back to 2005**

"That conversation happened on the night of Jill's death," John Graham finishes.

Lilly and Scotty look at each other. So, it seems like Charlie Vaughn did have some reasons to want his nephew to keep the Philadelphia Police away from him. If Charlie was indeed the only one that knew that Jill was leaving not only show business but also Philadelphia, it would make him their number one suspect.

"Did you see Charlie after that?" Scotty asks.

"No, I left the Theater shortly after that," Graham answers. "No way I would've wanted to have any conversations with Charlie after he had gotten that kind of news."

"What about Jill?" Lilly asks.

"When I was leaving the Theater I saw her driving away," he answers. "I couldn't see if she was alone or not."

"What about you? Anyone can confirm your whereabouts for the rest of the night?" Scotty asks.

"I was with my wife," Graham answers. "I'm not sure if it's a good alibi, but it's the only one I have."

"OK, John, that's all for now," Lilly says, getting up. "We'll be in touch if necessary."

Graham nods. "I'm glad to help."

Scotty leaves the room. Lilly takes one more look at Graham's face before leaving as well. What a messed up story they were unveiling. Can they really trust anyone?

XXXXX

Later on that day, the detectives are at the Philadelphia Police Headquarters working on all that information they were given in the last couple of days. Right now the case is on the verge of becoming a huge mess, they were thrown lots and lots of information, and had no idea what could be useful and what was irrelevant.

Nick and Will had been working on some pending alibis the whole day. The team had previously decided that they wouldn't ask Kelly Simpson or Paris McDonald for their alibis – they were so close that they could easily cover for each other. So they were asking around for their whereabouts on the night of Jill's death, which of course took a lot more time.

"Lil, Scotty," Will calls their attention. Everyone looks up, "We were able to confirm Kelly and Paris' alibi, and they are really interesting."

"Remember that guy Paris McDonald mentioned as the original cause of the quarrel between her and Jill – Chad O'Reilly?" Nick asks.

"Yeah, you mentioned that," Scotty replies. "Is he coming into the picture as well?"

"In a very relevant way," Will answers. "Turns out that on the night of Jill's death, he was arrested under the suspicion of abducting a young girl in the front of her parents' house in Darby."

Lilly and Scotty remain silent, waiting for the rest of it. Darby. That's where the adoptive parents of Nina Adams' daughter lived.

"Yeah, it's exactly what you're thinking," Will carries on, "Looks like Chad was seen wandering with little Michelle Andrews, and police picked them up. Now, guess who ran to the police station to bail him out."

"Paris and Kelly," Lilly answers, "Were any charges pressed against him?"

"No," Nick answers. "Chad claimed that he went to visit a friend in Darby and when he was driving back, he found the little girl wandering alone on the street. The parents later admitted that they were throwing a party at their house and it's possible that the girl was left unsupervised, so they didn't press any charges."

"So, it's likely that Kelly, Paris and Chad did know that Jill was looking for Nina Adams and her daughter," Lilly says. "Unlike Paris and Kelly said, they did know what was going with Jill towards the end."

Scotty jumps in, "The question is, what did want with that little girl? Steal her from her parents, like some sort of belated revenge against the mother?" He says, trying to make some sense of this scenario. It looks like the four friends were in much more trouble than anyone could have imagined. Now their job is to break that little group apart, because it was clear as clean water that they're going to protect each other if necessary.

Meanwhile, an officer gets in and delivers an envelope to Lilly. "We have Charlie and Alice's financial records," she says, anxious, and making a mental note to thank Kite one more time.

As Lilly says that, her phone rings. "What? Are you sure?" She asks the other person. "Fine, will you send me the documents with that information? Thanks," she says finishing the call.

"What was that, Lil?" Stillman asks, having just joined the detectives and being put up to date by Scotty, Nick and Will on the latest information.

"That was about the background research we asked on Nina Adams and her family," Lilly answers, "It looks like she died on a car crash, along with her parents and a sibling, on a road near New York City," she explains. "And we thought this couldn't get any more messed up."

"Why do you say that?" Scotty asks.

"Because that accident happened in 1985," Lilly answers, "Two years before her daughter was born."

**To be continued**


	9. Secrets

XXXXX

**"Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 9 – Secrets**

XXXXX

Half an hour later, Scotty and Lilly are the only ones left at the Police Headquarters. Lilly glances at her watch – it's 8:15 pm. She sighs, and mutters, "Damn it."

"What's wrong?" Scotty asks, looking over a pile of documents from the investigation.

"Nothing," she shakes her head, "but I promised my mom I'd visit her today. I didn't think we'd stay here so late."

"The visitation period is over?" he asks, getting up from his chair and sitting on Lilly's desk.

"Actually not, today it ends at 10 pm," she answers, "but I'm not in the mood to drive all the way there now."

"I can drive you," he says, getting up and holding the car keys.

"Why?" Lilly asks, suspicious.

"Can't a guy do a nice thing for a friend?" Scotty answers with another question, putting his jacket on. "Come on," he calls her, walking towards the exit.

Lilly grabs her jacket and bag and follows him. "You know, Scotty, you don't need to try to mend anything..."

He interrupts her abruptly, "I'm not trying to mend anything, Lilly," He says looking into her eyes with the guts he hadn't had in weeks. What he did can't be so damn evil. OK, so he slept with her sister knowing it was a crappy idea. Christina is trouble, he was warned. He also knew that she and Lilly had some heavy emotional luggage. Something to do with Lilly's ex-fiancé, a story that wasn't fully told to him and honestly, he's not sure he wants to know.

What Scotty knows is for sure is that, if Lilly's plan is to ignore him forever, he's not letting her have her way. "I'm not going to apologize to you anymore, Lilly," he goes on, as they approach the car, "But what I need you is that all of this didn't change who I am," He finishes, getting in the driver's seat.

During the next twenty minutes or so, you can hear the thick sound of silence in the car, just occasionally interrupted by Lilly's directions to Scotty on how to get to Ellen's home.

About half an hour later, they arrive. Scotty parks in front of the home, turns off the car and says, "Take your time."

Lilly nods, not looking at him. She begins to open the car door, but stops, seemingly to say something. Her mouth remains half-open for a couple of seconds, before Scotty says, "Or I can go in if you want to."

"Maybe it would be a good idea," she says, getting out of the car, which Scotty follows immediately.

They get inside of what is a very modern, clean and beautiful facility. Some patients are walking around, sitting in benches or reading a book. There's an aura of peace there.

They walk towards Ellen's room and that aura of peace quickly vanishes. Ellen is walking around the room nervously. She looks like she's arguing with someone but the room is empty except from a male nurse who's standing by the door, making sure Ellen won't hurt herself or disturb the other patients.

Lilly stops by the door, and the nurse says, "She's been like this for about an hour, Miss Rush. But it doesn't look too serious. I'm sure she'll calm down seeing her daughter here."

Lilly nods and goes in, knowing in her inside that a conversation with her mom usually ended with them feeling worse than before, and never better.

"Hey mom," Lilly says to Ellen, who turns around to face her daughter.

"Oh, it's you again," the older woman says, sitting in her bed.

"Glad to see I was missed," Lilly replies sarcastically, sitting next to Ellen.

Ellen glances towards the door and sees Scotty. "Hello, handsome boy," she says, smiling, "I don't think we have met."

Scotty walks in. "Scotty Valens," he says, shaking Ellen's hand, and disguising the weirdness of not being recognized even though they had met just a couple of days before.

"He's my partner at work, mom," Lilly clarifies. "He came to visit you me at your other home, remember?"

Ellen listens to Lilly but her attention, however, is turned only to Scotty. "So you're a detective? If they made police officers like you back in my early years, I sure would've made a bigger effort to stay in line," She says, giggling. Scotty can't help but smile.

Lilly rolls her eyes, secretly wishing Scotty would wait outside. She really didn't need her mom saying stupid things – whether true or false – in front of someone she worked with. Of course Scotty isn't just someone she works with, he is a friend. Or _was_ a friend. That condition was rather unclear at that point.

"Mom, how was your day?" Lilly asks Ellen, trying to prevent her from bonding with Scotty too much.

"It was nice, Lilly, very nice," Ellen answers, looking bored by the question. "Have you heard from your sister?"

"No, I haven't, mom," Lilly says, getting up and pacing the room for a while. "But I don't think I'd tell you if I had. The doctor said you need peace of mind of get better, remember?"

"I think I'm going to wait outside," Scotty says, getting up and almost desperate to leave. Maybe offering to drive Lilly there was a bad idea.

"Oh, don't go, honey," Ellen says to Scotty. He's paralyzed, not knowing what to do. What if he leaves and it sets the woman off on another crisis?

"Lilly, listen to your mother, you and your sister need to stay together, you're family. Soon I'll be gone and you'll only have one another," Ellen says.

"Which means I have no one," Lilly replies, dryly. "Don't worry mom, I'm used to that, I have been in that situation my whole life."

"No, you haven't Lilly. There was a time in which you'd let yourself need people by your side," Ellen says, getting up from the bed and approaching Lilly, "But you trusted people too much, and this is where you ended."

"Look, mom, I just came here to see how you were doing," Lilly says, trying to cut that conversation short. Today is definitely a day she doesn't want to get personal with her mom. Actually, _never_ would be the perfect day for that.

"She's just jealous of you, Lilly," Ellen says, as Lilly begins to leave. "Of your beauty, of your strength, of the fact you always had the most handsome dates." Lilly turns around to face her mom. Scotty is outside, near the door. He's not looking but from where he's standing he can still hear their conversation. "Don't hate your sister, Lilly. She just wants to be you."

"Bye, mom," Lilly says, heading to the door.

"Oh, and don't introduce that one to her either," Ellen says, making a sign with her head towards the door, "You know she would crush and destroy him like a hurricane."

Lilly smiles as she leaves, whishing Scotty had stayed in that room, so that she could see the look on his face now.

Half an hour later Scotty is dropping Lilly off at her house. "Thanks, Scotty," she says getting out of the car. "I owe you."

"Oh, don't worry," he says. Lilly has walked around the car and is standing besides the driver's door.

"I'll drive you to First Thursdays next time," she says, turning around to open her door. Her voice tone is soft like it hasn't been in weeks.

"Deal," he answers, as he starts the car and leaves.

XXXXX

It's early on the next day, and the detectives already have Walter Ross sitting on one of the interrogations rooms. They had called him on the night before and asked for him to come for clarifications. Ross quickly agreed, by far not imagining that the detectives already knew that Nina Adams couldn't possibly be the mother of the little girl Jill wanted information about. If Walter Ross was a minimally decent investigator, he would've quickly found out that Nina Adams had died two years before the birth of the baby adopted by the Andrews family, and therefore someone else used her identity.

The detectives are also eager to ask him about the considerable deposit made in his wife's bank account a couple of weeks before Jill's death, as well about the trust fund set in the name of his daughter, a teenager at the time of the murder.

"We appreciate you coming here again, Mr. Ross," Will says, as he and Nick enter the room, "There are some points that came up and need clarifications."

"For instance," Nick begins, "How come you located the registry of Nina Adam's death, and the birth of her child in 1987, if she died in a car accident in 1985?" he asks, looking right into Ross' eyes.

Ross freezes. The surprise and fear can be read in his eyes, and on his now paler skin. "I did find the registry of Nina Adams entering the hospital in 1987 and giving birth to a girl, I don't…"

"Don't waste our time trying to come up with a story," Will interrupts, harshly. "We know your background, you were a respected investigator and you knew your job. There's no way you didn't come across the fact that the girl you were investigating had died two years before. So you better spill the beans, if you don't want us to think you had something to do with Jill Hannigan's death."

Ross takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his almost bald head. "I'm not involved with her death," he affirms, seriously. "And I honestly don't know who killed her."

"But someone paid you off so you would shut up about the investigation you did for her, right?" Will asks.

"Yes," Ross reluctantly admits, after a few seconds of silence. "But I wasn't paid off to leave the business. I did because I was tired of seeing so much pain in people's lives," he adds. In spite of his displeasure in answering those questions Walter Ross certainly wasn't afraid of them.

"Fine, we don't care about that last part," Nick replies. "We already know who paid you off. Now you're gonna tell us how that negotiation was. And _everything_ else you might know, get it?"

"OK," Ross agrees. His secrets are out there now. All the years of silence and of wondering _why_ he got the offer he got were soon to be in the past. "I got the first call two days after Jill died. I actually hadn't heard of her death yet. The man didn't identify himself and said he had the dossier on Nina Adams and needed to see me."

"Did you agree to that meeting?" Nick asks.

"Yes, but obviously I chose a public place for it, since I didn't know who I was dealing with," Ross answers. "We met later that day and it turned out to be Charlie Vaughn, one of the people Jill had me look up in the first investigation."

"What did he say to you?" Will asks, wondering if Charlie Vaughn was already sitting in one of the interrogation rooms. Before they started Ross' new interrogation Stillman had just left to pick up Vaughn and bring him to the Police Headquarters.

"He said he had found the dossier on Nina Adams among Jill's things, and offered me some money to keep quiet about it," Ross explains. "I told him that confidentiality was an important aspect of my work, and I didn't go around spilling out my client's personal business. However, he insisted on offering me a 'gratification' so I would practice my business elsewhere. I was an incredible deal, and it would guarantee my family's future. I just couldn't say no," he finishes.

"So Vaughn didn't say why he was so worried that the Nina Adams story would come out?" Nick asks, believing that Ross' still has a lot more to offer to them.

"He said that Jill had been in a lot of trouble in her life and that he didn't want anything else coming out now that she was dead," Ross answers. "Because it would hurt Jill's mom too much. To be honest, I think that wasn't the first time Vaughn heard about the facts and people that were in that dossier."

Nick and Will take a few moments. So, Vaughn is now their number one suspect. He gave a huge amount of money to Walter Ross so he would disappear and never talk about Jill again. The question is, did he do this alone or was Alice Hannigan also involved in protecting her daughter's memory? If it was all his doing, why did he care so much about what people would say about Jill? Could he be Jill's _father_?

The detectives look at the private investigator one more time. "There's something else you know, isn't there?" Will asks, calmly. It was like Ross was asking to hear that question.

"It's something you two are probably already presuming," Ross nods, "Jill Hannigan and the Nina Adams who gave birth in 1987 are the same person."

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Scotty has Victor and Dana Andrews in another room. They adopted the girl that Nina Adams supposedly gave birth to in 1987. According to the information the detectives were able to dig, the Andrews lived in Darby, PA; until a couple of weeks after Jill's death, when they suddenly relocated to Baltimore, MD. Luckily for the detectives, the Andrews were in Philadelphia visiting family members. They weren't happy to come to the Police Department, especially since it involved talking about their daughter's adoption.

Scotty had just entered the interrogation room when Will knocked on the door and called him outside, to let Scotty know about the talk with Walter Ross and the confirmation of what they were suspected – Michelle, the girl that the Andrews adopted in 1987, was actually Jill Hannigan's child. If Jill tried to contact the Andrews looking for some contact with her daughter, it's quite possible that them would make it to the suspects list.

"Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, we appreciate you coming here to talk to us," Scotty says, as he enters the room and sits opposite the couple. "Let's see. In 1992, your daughter was supposedly abducted near your house in Darby. However, even thought the abductor was picked up by the Police here in Philly, you chose not to press charges," he adds, reading from some papers in his hands.

"Well, we did leave Michelle with my thirteen-year-old niece for a couple of minutes, and she ended up missing her," Victor Andrews explains. "The young man who was with our daughter seemed like a decent person and he explained himself well. Plus, we wanted to avoid problems with Child Services, because Michelle is adopted." He says that last part with quite some embarrassment in his voice.

"That's something else we would like to discuss," Scotty says.

"We really would like to understand why the adoption of our child is interesting to homicide detectives," Dana Andrews interrupts, nervously. Even though Michelle is now 18 years and they can't possibly lose her to anyone else, the adoption is a touchy subject for Dana, one that she would bury deeply and never discuss again.

"It is when the child's mother is a murder victim," Scotty clarifies, waiting to see the Andrews' reaction.

"What are you talking about?" Victor Andrews asks, surprised. "Michelle's biological mother died a couple of months after giving birth. We even have a copy of her death certificate," he adds.

"Well, that is a phony document," Scotty says, flatly.

"Are you saying we killed Michelle's biological mother?" Dana Andrews asks nervously. "We didn't even know where she lived!"

"Calm down, Mrs. Andrews," Scotty says. Why is that woman so nervous? He didn't even start the questions yet. Guilt, maybe? "It'll be just a few questions, and you'll be free to go." He talks a moment, then goes on, "Explain to me, why did your family moved to Baltimore out of a sudden?"

"I got a job offer there," Victor Andrews begins to explain, "I was hesitant at first, because of Dana and Michelle, but then…" he stops, hesitant.

"Then what?" Scotty presses him.

Victor looks at his wife. He's not going to lie, even if it looks bad for them. "A couple of weeks before, we started receiving some phone calls," he goes on. "From a girl, claiming to be a friend of Michelle's biological mother."

Dana Andrews jumps in, "She said she had been very mean to Michelle's mother and wanted to make some compensation to Michelle, since her friend was dead. She asked if she could come to our house and meet our daughter," she explains, on the verge of tears. "I was so afraid. This girl certainly knew the biological family of my daughter. Her mother was dead but there could be grandparents or even a father who were unaware of the adoption."

"We didn't want to take any risks in losing our girl," Victor finishes his wife's explanation. "So I took the job and we moved."

Scotty nods. "We know who that caller is. Funny how she turned up dead just a couple of weeks before you left Philly," He says, tossing a newspaper article from 1992, announcing Jill's violent death.

Victor and Dana Andrews look at the article and then at each other, speechless. "Jill Hannigan? The actress? She was the friend of Michelle's biological mother?" Dana asks, shocked.

"She _was_ your daughter's biological mother," Scotty corrects her. He analyzes every reaction and every move of the Andrews, ready to catch them if they seem involved with anything.

"Oh my God," Victor Andrews exclaims. "We… we had no idea." He stops, trying to think of something to say. "Thank God we left. She was famous and rich, she was going to take our girl away from us," He stops again, realizing this obviously wasn't going to sound good. "It was a coincidence. We swear."

Scotty looks at them. They seem an honest and decent couple. It's completely normal that a couple would fear losing their adopted child to the biological family, so that could be the reason they left Philadelphia. However, it didn't seem like they knew anything about Jill, much less her death.

XXXXX

While Walter Ross and the Andrews are being interrogated, Charlie Vaughn is sitting in Stillman's office. "This is ridiculous," he says, angrily. "I'm a respected director, a prominent member of Philadelphia's society, and look how I'm being treated. Like a criminal," He rants out, in between some extremely impolite words.

"You might as well be the King of England as far as I am concerned, Mr. Vaughn," Lilly replies, not at all intimidated by his words. "We are close to finish this investigation. Or you don't want us to do that?" She asks, and he doesn't answer.

In this moment, Stillman opens the door. "Lilly, I need to see you," he commands, and she follows him outside, where the other detectives are already waiting.

"So, what do you guys have?" Lilly asks, anxious to put that idiotic Charlie Vaughn against the wall. And not in a way he would enjoy.

"I got nothing from the Andrews," Scotty begins, "They say they got a few calls from someone claiming to be a friend of their daughter's biological mother – Jill, as we know. They were scared and since they had an opportunity to move to Baltimore, they went. They had no idea that Jill Hannigan was the real mother of their child. They look clean to me," he finishes, almost disappointed in not having anything that could really help their investigation.

Nick them goes on, "We have some interesting things you could use. Ross admitted that Vaughn was the one that paid him off to keep quiet about Jill's investigation on Nina Adams."

"And the most relevant thing for us," Will goes on, "The reborn Nina Adams and Jill Hannigan are the same person."

Lilly is not surprised at this revelation, as it seemed the most likely one after they found out that the real Nina Adams had died in 1985. "Did Charlie know about that?" Lilly asks.

"Ross said that it seemed like did, but they really didn't talk about that," Nick answers, "Either way, Vaughn was really worried about making sure there would be no scandals involving Jill after her death."

"Why?" Lilly asks, a little surprised about that because Charlie Vaughn always gave the impression he never cared about anyone. Ever.

"That's what we're hoping you could find out," Will replies, pointing his head towards Stillman's office, where Charlie was still walking from one side to the other.

Lilly takes a deep breath and when she turns around, she sees Alice Hannigan arriving. "Detectives," Alice says to Lilly and Scotty, the ones she had met. "I stopped by to see if you anything new. It looks like you're really busy." The movement of people was a bit crazy around the Cold Case Department, with lots of people walking around. She turns her head towards Stillman's office and sees Charlie. "What's Charlie doing here?"

"We called him for some clarifications," Lilly says. "We are indeed busy now, but if you could wait a little while, one of us will put you up to date in our investigation." Lilly walks Alice to their waiting room. At the same time, Scotty is telling the Andrews they can leave the interrogation room, however they need to wait around just in case they're needed again. A young female officer is designated to wait with them, to make sure they won't leave.

Meanwhile, Nick and Will leave the Police Headquarters after receiving orders from Stillman. "Shall we, Lil?" Stillman says, pointing to his office.

"Sure," Lilly answers. "We'll be right with you," she says to Alice Hannigan.

Lilly stops at the door of Stillman's office. From where she stands, she can see Alice Hannigan waiting for the news on her daughter's murder investigation. Little does she know what she is about to find out.

And worse, seems like it's only the beginning of it.

XXXXX

**To be continued**


	10. Truths

**Author's Note: **Well, this is it. This is the last chapter. I want to thank everyone who has read this fic. I have enjoyed writing this _very_ much, but it might be my last Cold Case fanfic, as my interest on the show is not the same anymore. Time will tell.

On the first chapter I promised to dedicate a chapter to the real case, but unfortunately I do not have the time to do this now. Also, I think it goes against rules to publish a non-fiction chapter. Anyway, if anyone cares, this was based in the Daniella Perez case, which happened here in Brazil in 1992. Most of the facts here are fictional, though. The original case wasn't so complicated and never went cold.

Again, thanks for everyone who's reading. Please leave a review!

**XXXXX**

**"Falling Stars"**

**Chapter 10 – Truths**

**XXXXX**

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Vaughn," Stillman says, after they enter his office. Even though they won one battle against DA Brown, the war is far from over. Better treat Charlie Vaughn nicely, at least while he's still merely a possible suspect.

"Let's get right to the point here, Charlie," Lilly doesn't wait a second to begin, "We have a witness claiming you and Jill had a nasty argument in the night of her death. Forgot to share that with us on our first talk?" She asks.

"No, I didn't forget," he answers. "But it was totally irrelevant to the subject of that conversation, which was Jill's murder."

"And of course, when she told you that she was leaving the play and leaving you with no lead actress, and no previous warning, you were really understanding and wished her good luck," Lilly says, smiling sarcastically.

"Obviously, I was pissed off, Detective," Charlie answers, annoyed by the way Lilly was talking to him. "She not only told me she was leaving the play, she told me she was giving up on acting and leaving the city. That would be awful publicity for us. Not to mention that Alice wouldn't want to put another actress in Jill's place," he explains. "I just tried to put some sense into her head."

"Which you failed, we assume," Stillman says.

Charlie nods, "She was resolute."

"Did she tell you why she was doing it?" Lilly asks.

"No," Charlie answers. "I thought maybe she had an affair or something… Jill was the kind to give it all up for a man. And she and Peter were separated. But the truth is I have no idea of her motivations."

"Charlie, we need to ask, where were you in the night of Jill's death?" Stillman asks.

Charlie looks calm, since he was already expecting that question. "After she left, I went back to the Theater and stayed there the whole night, with a bottle of the very best scotch you could find."

"Anyone can confirm that?" Lilly asks.

Charlie shrugs. "I assume the security people would have seen me there, but I don't have any name to give to you."

Lilly sits in Stillman's desk, next to the chair where Charlie is. "Let's be honest with each other, Charlie. We know you are not sharing everything you knew and did around the time of Jill's murder."

Charlie just looks at them. This was going to be really bad, he thinks, but it's better to disguise his concern. "You can ask a direct question to me, Detective." He says, coldly.

"Why were you so worried about the fact that Jill's dirty laundry could become public after her death?" Lilly asks.

Charlie sighs. They are really well-informed, it seems. "Look, Alice was already going through hell with the murder. Everyone that cared about Jill, and I include myself in that group, was in pain. Jill was dead and whatever mess she was involved with, was better buried with her."

"That's very noble of you," Stillman says, with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. "And how much did you know about Jill's problems?"

"I knew most of it," Charlie answers. "I knew that girl since she was born. I had to go pick her up at parties, drunk and high, countless times when her mother was working."

"Those were the only things she did?" Lilly asks, sitting in Stillman's desk. "She got drunk and high… and then, what else she did? With whom?"

Charlie remains silent. "Charlie, we already know that you found the dossier on Nina Adams. And don't try to make us believe that you were worried that people found out Jill was simply investigating a friend," Lilly adds.

"Can you imagine the scandal? What it would do to Alice? Your daughter gets murdered and then you find out she had had a child, given it up for adoption… a whole double life. It would kill her," Charlie tries to explain himself.

"Why did you care so much about Alice and Jill? No offense, but you don't give out the impression of being such a warm and caring guy," Lilly says. "Unless you were connected to them in other ways."

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asks, almost offended.

"Well, you said you knew Jill since she was born, so I assume you knew Alice before that," Lilly answers, making pretty clear what she's thinking.

Charlie laughs. "Detective Rush… I heard you're an amazing investigator but this time you couldn't be more mistaken."

"Then explain to us, Charlie?" Lilly asks, harshly. "Why were you so worried about Jill's secret? We can't understand."

"You can't understand because you don't know half of this story!" Charlie explodes. "And you have no idea who Jill Hannigan was."

Lilly and Stillman are surprised with Charlie's outburst. They are even more surprised when they notice his watery eyes. "Jill had a good heart. At that time when we were doing the play, she had changed a lot. Cleaned herself up. But she had done so many stunts in her life… and hurt so many people."

Charlie takes a moment, and regains his self-confident posture. However, he's still emotional. Lilly and Stillman remain silent, having no idea where this is going. "When I was younger, I had a serious gambling problem, as you already know. What most people didn't know is that I also had a strong liking for vodka and scotch," he tells. He takes several pauses while talking, making it look like a really painful conversation to him. "I wasn't an addict, but I was frequently under the influence of alcohol. Anyway, one day I was playing cards with some friends at my house when I got a call from Jill. She had gone to a party and got so drunk she couldn't even remember where her car was."

"What about Alice?" Lilly asks.

"She was in Boston, I think, making arrangements for a play we were performing there," Charlie answers. "Jill would always come to me when her mother was out of town."

Stillman nods, "Go on."

Charlie nods and goes on, "I drove Jill to her house. I wasn't good enough to drive, I admit, but I was certainly better than she was. We arrived, and don't ask me how and why, but she ended up convincing me to sniff some cocaine she had with her."

Lilly and Stillman share a look. This is not going to end well. "She was beautiful and fresh. I was old, lonely and drunk," Charlie says. "I'm not making any excuses to myself, but I certainly wouldn't have done it if I were sober." He smiles sadly. "She was intelligent, that's for sure. She wanted to try an acting career and she knew it would be interesting if she had something to control the man who directed all of her mother's plays." He shakes her head, disgusted, and looks down to the floor.

"Charlie," Lilly calls, terrified about the thought that was coming to her mind, "When did this happen?"

Charlie raises his head, and looks at Lilly, "A couple of days before the Christmas of 1986," He answers. "Now you understand why I was so worried about Jill's secret not coming out, don't you?"

XXXXX

"What??" Scotty asks, incredulous as Lilly shares the revelations of her talk with Charlie Vaughn. "Wow. I don't even know what to say."

"Keep it down," Lilly says to Scotty, making a sing with her head towards Alice Hannigan, who's still waiting to hear the update on the investigation. "She doesn't know yet."

"How come your daughter gets pregnant and you don't even know about?" Scotty asks, rhetorically. "These people are really messed up."

"And it's about to get a little worse," Nick says, approaching the other detectives, along with Will. "She called Jill's husband to get the update as well." Lilly and Scotty turn their heads to the spot where Alice Hannigan is, and they see Peter Campbell arriving and sitting next to her.

"He's gonna love to hear what Charlie had to say about his wife," Will says, shaking his head, also disgusted and shocked with the new turns of the case.

"You put Jill's friends on the interrogation room?" Stillman asks, approaching the detectives.

"Yeah," Will nods. "We are going there now," He says, as he and Nick go to the interrogation room.

XXXXX

Paris McDonald, Chad O'Reilly and Kelly Simpson are all sitting down in one of the interrogation rooms of the Philadelphia Police Headquarters. Paris and Kelly had been warned on the day before that they would need to come to further clarifications. Paris had put herself at the disposal of the detectives while Kelly was advised to come to Philadelphia as soon as possible, and she managed to find a flight arriving in Philly that morning. Will and Nick picked up the two women and stopped by at Chad's house to "invite" him to come along.

Chad is a very handsome man. Tall, dark blonde hair and beautiful green eyes. Someone girls would be crazy about. Now in his early thirties, Chad worked as a music producer but still made nice amounts of money as a model. And he, Paris and Kelly looked as close as they always were.

The three friends stay silent in the room. Chad is the only one who's a little nervous, occasionally getting up and walking from one side to the other. "Sit down, Chad," Paris says to him, annoyed. "You're making me nervous."

"Am I the one making you nervous?" Chad asks. "The fact that you are in a interrogation room in the Police Headquarters doesn't make you nervous?"

Paris laughs, "Well, I've been questioned by the police before. And so have you, so don't make a big deal out of this."

At this moment, Will and Nick enter the room. "We appreciate the presence of you three here," he says, "This shouldn't take long."

As he starts talking to the three friends, Stillman walks with Alice to the room besides that one, and they stand by the glass wall. Upon hearing that Chad, Paris and Kelly were there Alice insisted in hearing their interrogation. That had a huge potential to be a lousy idea, but they ended up caving in.

"This question is to all three of you," Will starts in the interrogation room, "Do you remember a girl called Nina Adams?" He asks.

The friends look at each other, not surprised to hear this name. "She went to high school with us," Kelly answers.

"We were a little mean to her," Paris adds. "You know, the popular ones, making fun of the nerds, that kind of stuff."

"One day she got pregnant and we never saw her again," Chad adds, "Why is this relevant? I heard she died before Jill."

Will smiles, sarcastically, "It's relevant because you are all lying," he says. "And you heard of her again, not long before Jill died." The room is in complete silence. The friends look down or to the sides. No one faces the detective sitting in front of them.

No word from anyone. "Let's be honest here. August 1st, 1987. You were all with Nina Adams, weren't you?" Will asks, his voice tone higher and harder. "According to a document supplied by theHospital of the University of Pennsylvania, that's the night Nina Adams gave birth to a baby girl. It's quite impressive how that came to be, since Nina had died in a car crash in 1985."

The friends are still quiet, but you can notice some watery eyes in Kelly. Nick keeps going, "And you were all there when she gave birth. Because it wasn't Nina. It was Jill."

"She was desperate," Paris is the first to have the guts to say something. "She knew she couldn't raise that child. It would be a disaster to her career and to her mother's."

"She regretted what she had done," Kelly says. "What would Alice say if she found out that Jill had drugged up Charlie and had sex with him?"

"Taking Nina's identity was just a way to keep everything under the rug," Chad keeps going with the explanation. "She took advantage of the fact that Alice spent most of that year in England. She came back around November… the kid had been adopted by then."

Watching behind the glass, Alice is speechless. Stillman puts a hand in her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he says.

Alice lets the tears run down her face. "It's been thirteen years since my daughter's death and only now I'm realizing I didn't know her at all," she says. Her eyes had a constant sadness, but now, they seem almost dead.

"How is this relevant?" Paris asks. As her friends she's really uncomfortable with the subject. "It all happened five years before Jill's death."

"It does connect with the alibi you three have for the night of the murder," Will replies, "Doesn't it, Chad?"

Chad takes a few moments before answering, "Yes, it does." He says, and looks down.

Kelly and Paris have a puzzled look on their faces. "What is he talking about?" Kelly asks Chad.

Chad doesn't answer, but Will takes the cue, "On the night of Jill's death, you two were called to a police station to help your friend here, weren't you?"

"Yes," Kelly nods, "Some cops picked up Chad accusing him of abducting a minor. But it was a misunderstanding. The kid was wandering around and Chad found her, and couldn't let her on the street," she explains, still trying to understand what's going on.

Paris' mind is a little faster than her friend's. She looks at Chad for a few moments, her mouth hanging slightly open in shock. "You son of a bitch", she says, looking at Chad. "That was Jill's child?"

Chad nods, "Yeah. She was going to run away with the girl. At that night, she told Charlie she was leaving the play, and she was going to meet me in a gas station a few blocks away from the Theater. I was going to give the girl to her, and they were going to take off, I don't know where, and I don't know how."

Kelly looks devastated, "How come you never told us?" She asks, with tears in her eyes.

"I know that Jill wouldn't want the kid's life to be disturbed anymore," Chad answers. "Besides, I knew the girl's parents hadn't done because they were at the Police Station the whole time."

Nick looks at Paris and Kelly. "Are you seriously trying to make us believe that you didn't know about any of this?"

"I knew she had found her child," Kelly answers, "And that she planned on trying to get the girl back. But I didn't know that she asked Chad to kidnap her."

"Jill was smart," Paris adds. "She wasn't going to spill the whole story to a single person. But it does explain why she came to me a couple of weeks with a story that a friend of hers needed to leave the country as soon as possible, and asked if I knew someone who could help with the documentation."

"And you didn't suspect it could be Jill?" Will asks.

"At that moment, no," Paris answers. "Now it seems obvious but she asked this to me in a typical day, while we were getting ready to go on stage. I didn't even think about it."

The detectives watch the three friends a few moments. Jill gave a piece of the puzzle to each person she knew. But no one could put it together, until now.

"Chad, what went wrong at the night you were delivering the child to Jill?" Will asks. Chad was probably the last person who saw Jill alive, so he could have seen something or someone, or maybe noticed a weird attitude in his friend.

"Like I said, we were supposed to meet in a gas station," Chad begins. "It was around, I don't know, midnight probably. I was there with Michelle, trying to calm her down and make her stay quiet," He takes a deep breath, "Then I saw Jill's car turn around the corner."

**Flashback to 1992**

It's a very dark and cold night in Philadelphia. In a closed gas station, Chad is waiting with little Michelle Andrews. He holds her hand tightly, "Don't worry, honey, mommy is coming to you any moment," he says to the terrified-looking young girl.

They see Jill's car turning around the corner. She quickly pulls in the gas station. Chad and Michelle stand behind a counter, likely used for clients to pay. A car driving by wouldn't see them standing there. Chad waits for a sign to take Michelle to the car.

However, a red car pulls in the gas station, right after Jill. Ten, twenty seconds go by and nothing. Chad knows he can't approach Jill's car if someone else is there, so he stays put, making sure he and Michelle are invisible.

Next thing, Chad sees as Jill decides to leave the gas station. She tries to back away and make a turn back from where she came from, but the other car is blocking her. She honks, but the car won't move. She then leaves in the other direction, in medium speed, and she's quickly followed by the other car.

**Back to 2005**

"I figured Jill would drive around the block and come back," Chad explains, "But I stayed there for almost an hour and she didn't show up. When I decided to leave, a police car spotted me and that's when I was taken to the police station.

"You didn't see who pulled in the gas station after Jill?" Will asks.

Chad shakes his head. "No. I couldn't see very well from where I was standing, and I couldn't risk being seen," He answers. "However, I believe it was a red Corvette," he adds.

"Wait a minute," Paris jumps in. "I know someone who owned a red Corvette in 1992."

XXXXX

The four detectives and Stillman are now together in their main room. "Jill made sure no one was on to her plans," Scotty says.

"She was giving it all up for her child," Lilly says. "That would piss a lot of people off."

"The fact that she had a child would be more than enough for that," Nick says.

"How's Alice?" Lilly asks Stillman.

"Hanging in," Stillman answers, "I found a private room for her to sit down for a while. Peter Campbell is with her, he also has a lot to digest."

"Well," Lilly sighs, "It's time to put an end to this," She says, as she and Scotty enter one of the interrogation rooms.

At the same time, Nick and Will enter the other interrogation room.

XXXXX

"Well," Lilly says to them man sitting in a chair in the interrogation room, "Didn't expect to see you again so soon, John Graham."

"Me neither," John replies, sarcastically. "I've already told you everything I know."

"We wanted to clarify some points," Scotty says, "Your wife is already helping us out in the other room."

John looks shocked to hear that. "Ex-wife," he corrects, "And you're wasting your time, because she barely knew Jill Hannigan."

"Let's remember what you told us before, shall we?" Lilly begins, "You said you witnessed a nasty argument between Jill and Charlie Vaughn on the night of her death."

"Exactly," John nods. "They argued for about fifteen minutes and then he followed her outside."

"Here's one thing we don't understand, John," Lilly says, "You were worried enough about Jill's career moves that you were willing to pay her private investigator to see what she was up to. Now, when you finally found out that she was leaving, that your biggest fear was coming true, you did nothing?"

"If Charlie couldn't make Jill change her mind, I certainly wouldn't be able to do that," John answers.

XXXXX

On the other interrogation room, a thirty-something woman is waiting. She seems impatient and rather nervous, her eyes traveling around the room incessantly. Her medium length hair looks already a bit messy, since she has run her hand trough it countless times.

"We appreciate your presence, Mrs. Graham," Nick says as he and Will enter the room.

"It's _Miss Prince_," she corrects, angrily, "John and I have divorced oven ten years ago."

"Oops. Sorry," Nick says, not looking sorry at all.

"What do you want for me?" Diana asks, angrily. "I have other places to be. I have to pick up my son from school."

"Tell us about Jill Hannigan and your ex-husband," Will demands, calmly.

Diana laughs sarcastically, "So I guess I wasn't the only one who saw something there."

Nick and Will remain silent, and with their eyes they tell her to simply get to the point.

"OK," Diana begins, "A few months before Jill's death she and John were very secretive, always had something to discuss privately. However I never had proof of any real involvement."

"Do you have any idea what they talked about so much?" Nick asks.

"John told me that she was going to help him with job opportunities," Diana answers. "I warned him that Jill made that kind of promise to everyone, but he didn't believe me; said I was just envious."

"What about the night of Jill's death?" Will asks. "Did you see her?"

"I ran into her on backstage, but we didn't talk," Diana answers. "After the presentation ended I was waiting for John outside the Theater, and I saw her storming out and leaving, looking a bit nervous."

"Anyone followed her?" Nick asks.

"Well, when she stepped outside the Theather Charlie Vaughn was with her, but after she drove away he got back in," She explains. So Charlie was really clean. "John came out a little bit afterwards, and told me Jill and Charlie had had _the_ fight."

"Really?" Will says, trying to look surprised, "And did he tell what it was about?"

"He told me Jill was leaving the play," Diana answers, "We were as crushed as Charlie."

"Why?" Will asks, this time really surprised.

"Well, _Body and Soul_ John's big break. With the season's being cut short, who knows what would happen to his career. And to mine as well, since I worked with the costume designers of the play," she explains, "I freaked out, because I was already pregnant."

"And so you decided you would try to make Jill change her mind?" Nick asks straightforwardly.

Diana is taken aback by that question. She remains silent for about thirty seconds, the longest ones for the people inside that interrogation room.

"Well," she starts, uncertain, "John asked me if I thought we should talk to her."

"And…?" Will says, impatient with her lingering.

"And I said that maybe we should, that maybe she had a problem that she couldn't tell Charlie but that she would tell John, since they had been friendly at that time," Diana answers. The detectives notice that she's getting more nervous by the second. She's squeezing her sweaty hands over and over.

Nick and Will keep staring her. Having their gaze on her makes Diana even more uncomfortable. About to crack at any minute.

"So you guys followed her." Nick states, looking at Diana for a complementation.

"Yeah, we did," she answers, staring at her hands.

XXXXX

"You see, John," Lilly goes on in the other interrogation room, "The problem is that we have a witness that puts you with Jill just a couple of hours before her death."

John laughs nervously, "That's impossible!," He says firmly.

"Then we suppose you have a decent explanation on why your car was seen driving after Jill's, when she left a closed gas station a few blocks from the Arden Theater," Scotty says. He and Lilly walk around John in the interrogation room. John's scared eyes follows them around, and getting even more nervous.

"OK," John concedes, "I did go after Jill, hoping to change her mind. Because what she was about to do, was going to screw with a lot of people's lives. Not only mine."

**Flashback to 1992**

Jill leaves the Arden Theater. Charlie is right after her. They argue for a couple more minutes as she walks down the street to her car. Charlie then gives up and walks back to the Theater. Jill gets in and drives for a few blocks. She tries to get in a gas station. Her eyes wander around the place, looking for Chad, who's supposed to be there with her daughter, Michelle. Before she can find them, she notices a red Corvette blocking her way out. She honks, but the car remains in place. She's so worried that someone might find out what she's doing, she decides to drive around the block. Her hands are shaking and her eyes are blurry, inebriated with happiness but also with concern.

She leaves the gas station, but the red Corvette is in full speed after her. She sighs, impatiently, not knowing what's going on.

Then she takes a good glance at the rear view mirror, and notices it's John Graham and his wife Diana. Probably they already heard about the news.

She stops her car in front of a school, which is, obviously, closed at that hour. John parks right after her.

"John!" Jill says angrily, "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, Jill," He says, nicely, "But I really needed to talk to you."

"Look, I'm assuming you talked to Charlie, and you don't have to waste your time," Jill says, "I'm leaving the play and this city." She then starts to walk back to her car.

John grabs her arm, "Just a few minutes, Jill."

"Let me go," Jill says, "You're hurting me." She looks at his hand in her right arm and starts to worry. She glances around but the street is completely deserted. "OK," she finally agrees.

John drags Jill to the car. She sits on the back seat. Diana smiles at her, but Jill looks completely terrified. "John, I have somewhere to go," she tries to explain, but John takes off in full speed.

"We're just going to drive around as we talk for a while," John says, not looking at Jill.

"Jill, why are you doing this?" It's Diana who begins the conversation. "Don't you realize there's no play without you? And therefore no job for a lot of people?"

Jill sighs, annoyed. "No one is irreplaceable."

"What about L.A., Jill?" John asks, his tone of voice slightly angry. "You promised you'd help me."

"I know, John," Jill says, "I'm really sorry, but other things happened, and I had to change my plans. Besides that, Peter and I are really over now, so no L.A. for me."

"It's really wrong, Jill," John says, unfriendly, "What you do to people. How you manipulate them."

"I did nothing like that!" She says. "And I didn't make any promises to you."

John stops the car suddenly. "Get out, you two," he says to the women in the car. He starts to walk around the car, nervous.

Diana and Jill get out of the car. They're in front of an empty piece of land. The grass is high and there a few trees out there. "John, calm down," Diana says, scared of her own husband.

Jill just stands there, in despair. Her face is paler than ever and the only thing she can think about is Chad in the gas station with Michelle. How long would he wait for her to come back?

"I can't even stand looking at you, Jill," John says, infuriated, walking around the young actress. "I studied Drama, I got a thousand acting gigs and no one acknowledges me! And you do nothing except being your mother's precious little girl and everyone is bewitched by you!"

"John, you're a talented actor, your moment is going to come!" Jill says, trying to work her way out of the situation.

"This play was my moment," John says, "And now it's over." He walks back to the car, and reaches for something inside of it. "But your moment is about to be over too," He says as he comes back to Jill with a shiny thing in his hand.

"John, stop it!" Diana yells, as she notices he's holding a scissor that belonged in her work bag.

John runs to Jill and stabs her once in the chest. She falls to the ground, gasping for air. As John approaches to stabs her again, Jill screams for help. But her pain is so intense she doesn't even have the strength to scream anymore. He stabs her a few more times, his eyes filled with anger and resentment.

"What are you doing standing there?" John asks Diana, who watched the scene speechless. "Come on, help me drag her far from the street."

Diana obeys without saying a word. They drag Jill's body and then she buries the scissor somewhere else in the field. Then they get back in the car and drive away.

Jill's body lies in the ground, covered in blood. Her lifeless eyes remain open, still begging for a chance.

XXXXX

**Back to 2005**

The song "One", by U2, starts playing in the background.

_Is it getting better?_

_Or do you feel the same?_

_Will it make it easier on you now?_

_You got someone to blame_

_You say_

Lilly and Scotty take John Graham, handcuffed, out of the interrogation room. Nick and Will follow them, taking an also handcuffed Diana Prince with them.

_One love_

_One life_

_When it's one need_

_In the night_

_One love_

_We get to share it_

_Leaves you baby if you_

_Don't care for it_

Alice and Peter watch, silently. Peter puts a hand around Alice's shoulder, comforting her.

_Did I disappoint you?_

_Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?_

_You act like you never had love_

_And you want me to go without_

Next, Charlie comes out of Stillman's office. He stops in front of Alice, and with tears in his eyes, says "I'm sorry", before turning around and leaving.

_Well it's_

_Too late_

_Tonight_

_To drag the past out into the light_

_We're one, but we're not the same_

_We get to_

_Carry each other_

_Carry each other_

_One_

Kelly, Paris and Chad, leave a room they had been waiting in. They are all crying; and by the looks in their eyes, guilty. Alice hugs them and says it's OK.

_Have you come here for forgiveness?_

_Have you come to raise the dead?_

_Have you come here to play Jesus?_

_To the lepers in your head_

We are now in a bright and sunny day. Alice is at her house. We see several pictures of Jill, from childhood to her adult years. Some pictures are from Jill performing on _Body and Soul. _Kelly, Paris and Chad are there with her – they all admire the pictures and talk about the good memories from them.

_Did I ask too much?_

_More than a lot._

_You gave me nothing,_

_Now it's all I got_

_We're one_

_But we're not the same_

_Well we_

_Hurt each other_

_Then we do it again_

There's a knock on the front door. Alice walks there and opens it.

_You say_

_Love is a temple_

_Love a higher law_

_Love is a temple_

_Love the higher law_

_You ask me to enter_

_But then you make me crawl_

_And I can't be holding on_

_To what you got_

_When all you got is hurt_

Standing on the entrance, are Victor and Dana Andrews. Standing just behind them, looking confused and a little scared, there's a 18 year old girl, long dark hair, big brown eyes. She walks into the house, and hugs Alice.

_One love_

_One blood_

_One life_

_You got to do what you should_

_One life_

_With each other_

_Sisters_

_Brothers_

_One life_

_But we're not the same_

_We get to_

_Carry each other_

_Carry each other_

The two of them embrace each other a few moments, in silence. Alice opens her eyes and by her side she sees Jill, smiling at them.

**The end**


End file.
